Harry Potter and the Shadow Clones
by pyrorebel
Summary: Slight crossover with Naruto. At a young age Harry learns of a new ability, he can create shadow clones. With his new ability Harry will change the wizarding world. intelligent, independent Harry. H/Hr
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter and the Shadow Clones

Since Harry Potter was a baby he lived with his Aunt Petunia, his Uncle Vernon, and his cousin Dudley at Number Four Private Drive. At the age of four Harry lived in the cupboard under the stairs and does the chores that the rest of the Dursley's don't wish to do themselves (which is of all of the chores). Now at the age of eight years old Harry has been given the chores of mow the lawn, weed the garden, and clean the floors before he made dinner for the rest of the family for the day.

'Man this would be so much easier if I could do two things at once' thought young Harry while pushing the mower across the yard.

He stopped to take a break and really think about what he could do if there were two of him instead of one. After careful consideration Harry closed his eyes focused as hard as he could of creating a double of himself and tried to will it to happen. Expecting nothing to happen, surprisingly after a short while he heard a small poof sound and saw a small cloud of smoke. Once the smoke had cleared he saw an exact copy of himself.

"What, who, how?" stuttered young Harry as he looked at a clone of himself.

"Well you wanted another you to help you with your work so I guess you created me" the double said. "I'm not entirely sure how exactly you did it but it shouldn't be too hard to do it again or even make more doubles of yourself. Now what do you need me to do?"

"Oh well uh . . . you could get started on weeding the garden over there while I finish up mowing the lawn" Harry said still a little confused on the whole matter of another him standing in front of him. 'Maybe this is why they call me a freak' Harry thought to himself.

Unfortunately he would have to think about that later as Uncle Vernon's voice came bellowing out from the window for Harry to finish mowing the lawn. So with his double weeding the garden Harry went back to his own work. They both finished roughly around the same time and that's when Harry found himself in bit of a conundrum. He still needed to clean the floor in the kitchen and make dinner but if he walked inside with the double the Dursley's would probably throw a fit and beat him some more and he didn't know how to get rid of the double.

"Uh not that I don't appreciate you helping me but how do I get rid of you so that my relatives don't know about you?" Harry asked his clone.

"Well your thoughts created me maybe they can do the opposite.' the double replied calmly.

"So I will have to do is concentrate on making you disappearing instead of appearing. It sounds like it should work; I will give it a try." Harry said.

Harry closed his eyes and focused on the double disappearing. With another poof sound and a smoke cloud the double was gone but Harry received a rush of information about what the double had done while it was there, it was the doubles memories from when he appeared to when he disappeared.

'Well that was unpleasant but if I can make more of these to do the chores without the rest of my relatives finding out it should make my life a lot easier.'

For the next couple of weeks Harry would make clones to help him with his chores so long as they were never in the same place where they could be seen and he was able to get more work done with fewer beatings.

….

Uncle Vernon came storming into the house "Harry!" the plump man bellowed.

Harry's immediate thought was to get his doubles out of the house. He turned to look for them but they were gone. Harry walked out from kitchen and replied "Yes, Uncle"

Glaring at the young boy Vernon made his way to him "I have a whole list of things for you to get done before my guests from work arrive tomorrow."

As Harry looked at the list his uncle shoved at him he saw that he needed some things from the store and thought to himself "I will have to send a few of the doubles get supplies." A few seconds later he heard a cars screeching to halt and then what sounded like the same car hitting something.

All of sudden Harry had the memories of one of his doubles rush at him, although he had not made one disappear yet.

In the memories of this double it had heard Uncle Vernon call out Harry and then Harry's thought to hide his doubles. This double made his way to the backdoor and slipped out while no one noticed. Later he heard Harry's thoughts again when he wanted to send some of his doubles to the store. That's when this double started to make his way there and ran out into the street.

Harry heard and saw the screeching car hit and kill the double. In this moment of discovery he realized he could command his doubles through his thoughts. He also discovered that even if the doubles somehow died without Harry making them disappear he would still retain all of the doubles memories.

After the memories stopped he saw his Uncle Vernon standing at the window. Relieved his uncle had not seen what just happened Harry asked, "What's happening out there Uncle?"

The Pudgy man turned to his nephew and grunted, "None of your damn business get back to work or you will get a beating"

The next day Harry decided that it would be okay to send his doubles to the library so that they could learn all they can without worrying what would happen to them.

...

After a few weeks passed by the knowledge he was learning from the books he was having his doubles learn; he determined that these creations were more like clones. So that is what he started calling them.

One day one of his clones was sitting in the library and another clone walked in the front door. The clone sitting down saw the clone walking in and noticed people looking at the clone. Before they could turn and look at him he got up and hid deep in the library where nobody was. The clone kept thinking to himself how can I disappear and then poof he was gone.

When the clone's memory came rushing to Harry he had a moment of discovery that his clones seem to have the same abilities he did. After his moment of discovery Harry decided that it was time to find away to disguise his clone's appearance so that other people don't notice them. He came to the conclusion that if he can create things by concentrating why not changing things as well.

He and his clones started trying to change their appearance through concentrating on what they wanted to look like. Finally after two weeks Harry and his clones were able to change their appearance so that other people did not notice them.

Now that he and his clones can change his appearance he decided that it was time to leave his Uncle Vernon's house. But he would have to get jobs to pay for a place of his own. So the next day he sent his clones to do just as he planned, but left a clone behind to fool his relatives.

Harries clones found four different jobs to work for; one as a painter for house contractors, janitor at law firm, waitress for a diner, and a cashier at a store.

While working he made sure to keep to himself and stay away from the other workers. It was easiest for the waitress because they other girls were jealous of the "tips" she was getting. Within two weeks of getting his first paychecks he found an apartment he where he could live inside the city

As time went by everyone at each of Harries jobs learned that he was a very private person and never bothered him at work unless necessary. His clone at the Dursley's would create a new clone before it would dispel itself every night to give Harry an update of what was going on at the Dursley's.

Throughout the years Harry saved up his money from his four different jobs while keeping a clone at the Dursley's to do the chores and get beaten. When school started Harry new to keep his intelligence hidden from everyone or face the wrath of his Uncle Vernon for doing something better than his cousin Dudley. So Harry stayed quiet and made sure that his grades were just below his stupid oaf of a cousin.

Harry still frequented the library and with each month he was able to send more and more clones to read and learn everything he could. Harry found he like to read scientific books and fantasy novels (two very contradictory subjects). By the end of school before his eleventh birthday Harry had read every book in the library and knew enough to possibly make it into most colleges as he was.

...

It was the beginning of the summer before Harry's eleventh birthday his clone that was left at the Dursley's had just been sent to fetch the mail. Now while this is not anything new for the clone what was new was the owl that dropped a letter addressed to him. Harry had never received any mail while at the Dursley's he had also never seen an owl deliver a letter and so decided to keep the letter hidden from his relatives before he read it. He knew that if his relatives saw him with it they would take it away from him before he could even open it so he tucked it into his pants before heading into the house to give the rest of the mail to his Uncle.

As Harry walked in to the house his uncle Vernon bellowed, "What the devil took you so long? You didn't talk to any of the neighbors did you? I don't want them finding out I have a freak of a nephew living with me."

"No Uncle I didn't talk to anyone, I tripped over a passing cat on the way to the mail box." Harry quickly replied with a lie in hopes his uncle wouldn't beat him and find the letter.

"You stupid boy did anyone see you make such a spectacle of yourself?"

"No, absolutely no one saw me tripping over a cat." Harry replied very truthfully and with that Harries uncle let him pass on to his cupboard of a room.

That night after the clone made a new clone to replace himself, he set out to find the original Harry at his apartment complex to give him the letter before he dispelled himself. After Harry had read the letter he set out to find the people who sent the letter while thinking to himself that him being a wizard answered a lot of questions he had, such as how he can create his clones and change his appearance. But it also brought up more questions as well such as; why did no one tell Harry he is a wizard? Did his relatives know? How did he become a wizard? Last but not least, how do these people at Hogwarts know he was wizard?

After having no luck searching on the Internet he decided to send his clones out in search of any one know about magic and wizards. Finally a clone stumbled upon a place called the Leaky Cauldron were he overheard its patrons talking about peculiar things and doing things science could not explain he knew he had found just the place.

In disguise Harry himself made his way to the Leaky Cauldron he paid for a room for the night and decided to chat up the bartender. "I am not from around these parts and I need to know how to get some magic stores."

Suspiciously the bartender told Harry everything he needed to know about Diagon Alley and the shops there he even mentioned he might want to check out Gringotts Wizarding Bank. After it became night Harry decided to wait till the next day before he did anything, as it was very late in the evening and most places would be closed.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry Potter and the Shadow Clones

The next morning after having someone open the portal for him to Diagon Alley he set out straight for Gringotts Wizarding Bank. As he approached the first teller he could find he dropped his disguise making the goblin in front of him to jump and look at him suspiciously.

"Hello I'm Harry Potter I wish to know if I have an account here and if you may know if my parents left a Will for me" he asked the goblin in front of him.

"I'll need a sample of your blood to see if you have a vault here and then if you do we shall see about your parents Will" the goblin responded not trusting the kid in front of him. The goblin then produced a small, silver knife that he held out to Harry waiting for him to extend his hand to be pricked. Harry extended his hand and the goblin quickly pierced his finger gaining a drop of blood on the end, which he let drop on a stone. As the stone turned red there was quill writing on a parchment at a rapid pace by itself. Once the stone stopped glowing red and the quill stopped the goblin took a look at the parchment and his eyes widened with surprise.

"Please wait one second while I verify these results" the goblin said before he trooped off into a new room in the back. As Harry waited for the goblin to return he noticed that he was getting quite a few stares from the rest of the patrons there. After a couple a minutes the goblin came back out, but with a couple other goblins as well.

"Please follow us," asked the original goblin as he turned and led Harry back to the door they had just come from.

...

They led Harry through a series of stairs and hallways before they reached their destination. It was a massive gold door with jewels on the handle to open the doors, as they approached, the two guards at the door started to open it. When it finally opened it exposed a very well furnished room with a goblin sitting in a chair drinking some wine while he waited. As they walked closer to the sitting goblin he stood and turned towards Harry and the Goblins.

"You may leave us" he spoke in a low, gravelly voice. The goblins with Harry quickly dispersed back out the doors before the doors were shut behind them.

"I am Bloodfang, manager of the Potter accounts" he told Harry.

"I hear you wish to look into your parents Will is there anything else you might want to do while we wait for your parents Will be brought up?" he asked.

"Yes since I now know I have an account I'd like to know what all I have here," he told Bloodfang.

"Well there is the Potter family vault, your trust fund vault, the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw vault and the Slytherin, Hufflepuff vault, he recited while looking at a parchment in his hands. There are over 200,000,000 galleons and the Potter vault along with an assortment of items. In your trust fund there is 1,000 galleons, which is to be refilled at the beginning of each summer after you turn eleven. The Gryffindor, Ravenclaw vaults only have 57,000 galleons and a variety of items and magical artifacts, same with the Slytherin, Hufflepuff vault although that one has quite a bit more galleons. As you can see you are one of the richest wizards in Britain Mr. Potter. We have also invested a portion of your money in various businesses earning you about 600,000 galleons per year."

As he finished talking a roll of parchment appeared on the table in front of Bloodfang.

"If you will place a drop of your blood on the parchment we will be able to look at your parents will." Bloodfang said as he handed the parchment over to Harry.

Harry taking the roll squeezed out a drop of blood from the already open cut on his finger from earlier and watched as the roll glowed for two seconds before unrolling itself out. Bloodfang then took the parchment back and scanned over the Will.

"Well your parents left you everything they had, that includes everything in their vault and all the properties they owned. It also states that should either of them die you are to be left with your Godfather Sirius Black; if he is unable then you are to go to the Longbottoms. If they are unable you are to be placed with a wizarding family that's been questioned under virataserum. Under no circumstances were you to be placed with your aunt Petunia Dursley and her family. That is all that is in your parents Will" Bloodfang finished.

"Who carried out my parents Will?" Harry asked after a few seconds.

"No one did I'm afraid. Albus Dumbledore had your parents Will sealed and had placed you with a family he saw fit and would not disclose your location. That is why we needed your blood to open the Will" Bloodfang responded.

"I see, has there been any transactions between any of my vaults that was not done by me or the goblins?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Albus has had 1,000 galleons transferred from your account to a private account once a month. We could not stop him as he had named himself your magical Guardian by law" Bloodfang said.

"Who is this Albust Doombledure who wants to ruin my life and make me miserable?" Harry exclaimed.

"Albus Dumbledore is said to be (in the wizarding world at least) the greatest wizard of our time, and the head of Hogwarts. As for making you miserable I believe he felt that leaving you with your relatives would be best for you. There are endless rumors as to what he is doing with the money but I don't think he is trying to ruin your life"

...

"Well then for whatever the reason for these transfers they need to stop immediately, is there any way for me to become emancipated at such a young age? Harry asked, and also can you get back the money that was taken from my vaults."

"Well as the last of an Ancient and Noble house you can claim yourself as the Head of House which will automatically emancipate you once you turn eleven. You will then be able to take your seat on the Wizengamot and be considered an adult in the wizarding world. As for the money we can do nothing until you have claimed your head of house status." He replied.

"And how do I claim myself as the Head of House" Harry asked?

Bloodfang snapped his fingers and a piece of parchment appeared in his hands before he handed it to Harry.

"Simply read this out loud during your eleventh birthday and the inherent magic of your family will do the rest" replied Bloodfang. "After you have claimed your Head of House title your family rings will appear on your hand. The Potter ring acts as an emergency portkey to the Potter Ancestral home. Simply state 'family home activate' and the ring will take you and any one your touching to the Potter home."

"Thank you, now hopefully you can answer one last question for me, do you have some means to pay in both the muggle, and magical world without carrying a load of galleons and pounds" Harry asked?

"Why yes actually, Bloodfang replied while snapping his fingers making a small black credit card appear in his hand. Simply place a drop of blood on to this and it will key in to your vaults allowing you to pay for anything you may need. It has a mild confundus charm that will make any muggle think it is a regular credit card. It will cost you a 5 galleon start up fee though."

"That's perfect I'll take it, he said as he punctured his finger again to get a drop of blood on his new credit card. Well that concludes everything I needed to discuss so if there is nothing else I shall be on my way."

He waited for Bloodfang to shake his head before he stood and exited the room following his escorts from before to the main floor.

...

After exiting Gringotts Harry visited every store buying everything he thought relevant and useful while getting his school supplies. He bought one of every book in Flourish and Blotts while getting every ingredient he could at the apothecary. He also bought a magical box that looked like a pocket book that would hold all of his books and would grow to the size of a single shelf to allow you to take and put back books. Also if you closed it then named a specific book that was in there it would be the only book there when you opened it you could do categories with this book as well to help better find what you're looking for.

There was girl there about Harries age looking at all the magical books as he was; she had long bushy brown hair. She didn't seem like the rest of the patrons in the store who unenthused about their surroundings. This girl was full excitement and delight, like Harry this was probably her first experience in the magical world.

The girl looked at Harry and saw all the books he was getting she came over and asked, "Do you like to read a lot. I only ask because that seems like a lot of books for one person."

Harry looked at the girl in surprise he preferred to keep to himself and not talk to others unless he had to and others got the hint. But not this girl so to be polite he simply replied "No this just a little light reading for today." Leaving a stunned look on the girls face he left the store with his purchases.

At the next store Harry got a magical belt that had expansions charms on the pockets lining it allowing you to carry a bulk of different potions at once. At Olivander's it took him quite awhile but he finally got his wand along with a wrist holster for it that had anti summoning charms and invisibility charms added to it. As he was walking out Olivanders he ran into the girl from the bookstore again.

She came up to him and asked, "You were only kidding back in the store right? I mean reading all those books in one day would be impossible even in the magical world right?"

"Yes I was joking, and now I must go" Harry replied. 'What is with this girl and asking me questions? And why do I continue to answer? I should ignore her so she won't keep talking and asking me questions' he thought to himself.

But it was too late the girl had got in front of Harry and said "Hi my name is Hermione, what is yours?

"Harry"

"Are you going to attend Hogwarts?"

"Yes" 'why do I continually answer her questions I am supposed to be ignoring her?' and that's when Harry heard a woman's voice calling out.

"Oh, that's my mom I guess I will see you on the train."

With a sigh of relief Harry watched the girl run back to her parents and looking back at their conversation he asked himself 'what train?'

Last but not least Harry entered the emporium looking at the different animals wondering if he should get one when he laid eyes on a snowy white owl and instantly felt a connection with it. He bought the owl and named her Hedwig.

The owner of the emporium walked up to Harry and said "I must say that is one of our finest owls very brilliant and loyal. We have also used her to deliver several messages for she knows most of the mail routes to deliver messages for you herself."

Harry asked "Do all owls deliver messages and is there any other way to send messages."

The owner replied "Only trained owls can deliver messages, and there other ways of delivering messages but the magic would be too advanced for you right now."

Harry thought t himself 'That explains why an owl dropped the Hogwarts letter for my clone.'

As the original Harry was buying supplies in Diagon Alley a transformed clone withdrew some galleons and went shopping in Knockturn Alley buying anything it found useful.

While there the clone found a shop that sold wands. The owner was sitting in a dark corner as the clone entered and arose to greet the young man he saw entering his store. His body seemed thin as wire and his narrow chin even seemed to enhance that.

"What are you here for?" the owner scowled

The clone sternly said, "I am looking for a new wand"

The owner walked over to a desk and started looking for something "The wands I sell are not cheap you had better not be wasting my time."

The clone smirked and showed the owner his gold with a grin he pulled out a stone tablet "Place your hand on the tablet and a wand meant for you will be revealed to me"

The clone did as the owner said and when he placed his hand on the tablet. The clone could feel energy being emitted from the tablet. The owner with a perplexed look set on the clone muttered to himself and started making his way to a cupboard.

He pulled out a wand and showed it to the clone "This is made of vinewood and has Basilisk tooth for its core making it very powerful wand. This will cost more than most of my other wands; I hope have you have the money."

The clone dropped the money in front of the owner "Will that be enough for your precious wand."

The owner looked at all that was in front of him and handed over the wand. The clone took the wand and left the store wondering what all that rubbish was about with the wand.

...

As Harry finished his shopping in Diagon Alley he sent a note to Dumbledore using Hedwig telling him that he would be attending at Hogwarts. After sending the note he made a hundred clones to start reading everything for this school year. He sent another hundred clones to practice potion making. He couldn't practice his spell work till he emancipated himself from the Dursleys.

….

A couple of weeks went by when one of his clones had read about Animagus transformations in one of the advanced transfiguration texts. He reasoned that since he could change his features to any human why not animals as well, so he made two hundred clones to work on changing into every animal they could think of.

All the knowledge of the wizarding world the clones were gathering allowed him to him to understand many words, phrases, and things he heard in the magical world. Such as the train the girl Hermione mentioned is the train that takes all students to Hogwarts. Harry also learned that the word muggle means a person without magical abilities. All of this information also brought up questions "why do people refer to Harry as the boy who survived? Who is this he-who-must-not-be-named person? Why is my scar so recognizable to everyone in the magical world? What exactly happened to my parents?" he realized these are questions he will have to investigate for himself if he wants answers.

He decided to transform himself and go down to the Daily Prophet and see what he could find out. There he bumped into a reporter with an arrogant meaner and blonde hair in a bun.

"Watch where you are going you buffoon do you know how I am?" the woman exclaimed

Deciding this woman needs to come down a peg Harry replied "some old out of touch lady who uses the word buffoon."

With a beet red face the lady the lady exclaimed, "my name is Rita Skeeter and I am one of the most renown writers for the Daily Prophet."

"Then why have I never heard of you?"

About to explode "because you obviously have been living under rock."

"I don't live under a rock I live in a rock, a very large rock, it's called a mountain" Harry further teasing the woman, prepared to pull his wand for it looked like she was about to do the same.

Before anything could be done the minister of magic came in "Ah, Miss Skeeter are you ready for our meeting?"

Miss Skeeter turned from Harry as hell bent angry to the minister as sweet, calm, and heavenly. The puzzled Harry thought to himself 'she must be a talented witch to know a spell that can instantly change her mood like that without using a wand. I will have to learn how she does it later.'

Harry asked the clerk at the front desk if he could look at the archives to look up some past articles. The clerk showed Harry where to go and how to access the articles.

Harry was horrified to learn that some dark lord who was this he-who-must-not-be-named person had killed his parents and that he was the only person to survive the attack; although no one knows how. It took even more digging to find the dark lords name but at last Harry had found it Voldemort. This was the person who killed his parents, tried to kill him, and gave him the scar on his forehead.

...

As the final days before his birthday arrived Harry had read through more than half of the books he had bought and had made every potion in the first year book along with a couple second year potions as well. He had also mastered morphing into every animal known to man except the magical ones. They had different magical cores that could not be replicated by his morphing abilities. Harry used his new ability to infiltrate every business and the ministry using his clones morphed into insects to learn as much as he could about the magical world.

On Harry's eleventh birthday he immediately recited the words on the parchment Bloodfang had given him and once the rings had appeared on his finger he activated it to get to his ancestral home.

Seeing the dust and filth layering the place Harry created five hundred clones to clean the place up while, practice his spell work such as charms, defense, and transfiguration while he went back to Gringotts to discuss getting the money back that was taken from him.

"Hello Bloodfang it is nice to see you again" Harry greeted the goblin.

"Ah young master Harry I take it you are here to discuss that financial matter we spoke of when we first met?" he inquired.

"Yes, if you have the time" Harry responded.

"Well unfortunately Dumbledore has hidden who is receiving the money but since he is the one taking it we can freeze his vault until every Knut has been paid back to you sir" Bloodfang said with a toothy grin.

"I think that will work out nicely, will you send me a statement when all of this has been done" Harry asked?

"Yes we will, and you will also be getting monthly statements from now on to ensure that everything is in order and something like this does not happen again" Bloodfang replied.

"Good if that is all I must be going, good day to you Mr. Bloodfang" Harry stated as he got up after Bloodfang had nodded his acknowledgment and left.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry Potter and the Shadow Clones

The next month before the he had to leave for the train Harry was practicing and reading everything he could using his clones. By the time it was time to leave Harry had read every book he had, mastered all of the spells for first year and a couple for second, while making every potion needed for his first three years and stocking them in his belt needless to say he made many trips to Diagon alley to resupply himself. But as September 1st is tomorrow Harry was packing everything he'd need in his trunk for the coming year.

Through his various clones hiding throughout the wizarding world he had learnt of how to reach the platform so rising early Harry quickly ran through the portal. After staring in awe at the train for quite some time Harry loaded his luggage and boarded the train watching as more and more family's came to see their kids off to Hogwarts. As he was watching he didn't notice a young girl approaching him.

"Excuse me, Harry right, do you know where I can store my luggage?" it was the annoying Grainger girl from Diagon Alley.

"Ah right at the back there's a platform were everyone loads their luggage to be placed in the storage area of the train" Harry responded.

"Can you show me?" Hermione asked

Harry reluctantly then led them to the back of the train where everyone was loading their luggage and tried to escape quickly but was blocked by two parents that where right behind him and Hermione.

"Thank you for helping me, these are my parents Dan and Emma Granger." she introduced the couple politely.

"Hi, I'm Harry, Harry Potter, It's nice to meet your parents", Harry responded as Hermione's eyes bugged out after hearing his last name for the first time. "Well since you're all settled I'll be getting on the train see you later" he said as he waved at them hoping he would not actually see Hermione again.

"That was a nice young boy where did you meet him?" Hermione's parents asked.

Still a little dazed to find out that the boy she knew was Harry Potter "at the book store, he likes to read a lot of books."

"Oh yes, I remember you telling me that you talked to a boy who almost bought out the whole book store, sounds like you two were meant to be friends."

It wasn't long before Harry saw Hermione poking her head in his compartment and asking if he could join him. "May I sit with you?" she asked meekly.

"Sure" Harry responded with regret.

"So your Harry Potter right I've read about you," she inquired.

"Yes" he replied wondering where this was going.

"So is it true what they say about you" she asked eagerly?

Harry had read all the books concerning himself so he had an idea of what she was asking but decided to go more for specifics "what is it they say about me" he asked in return.

"Well they say you defeated the dark lord Voldemort by yourself when you were only one year old." she replied.

"Like you said I was only a year old so I have no memory of what happened and the only other person that would know for sure would be said dark lord if he weren't dead." He answered.

"Oh well I guess that's true but what about you being taken away to be trained to either become the next leader of light or the next dark lord" she asked eagerly.

"The only training I've had has been in the last month after I got my letter and learned I was a wizard for the first time, said Harry. You know you can't trust everything you read in a book or the papers; sometimes they get the information wrong or in my case just make wild guesses on what happened to me. I take everything I read with a grain of salt and cross-reference with other reading materials to make sure everything matches up and is the same.

"Hm that is a good idea" she responded, thinking heavily on what she had been told.

Harry reluctantly made mindless small talk with each question Hermione asked until a small pudgy kid at the compartment door interrupted them.

"Hi my name's Neville may I join you," He asked nervously?

Hermione answered in the affirmative while Harry just stared out the window not saying anything. So Neville joined them and started a pleasant conversation with Hermione while Harry continued to stare out the window ignoring them when they would ask him questions. Harry didn't know why he could ignore Hermione when there was someone else around but he decided to enjoy the moment while it lasted.

"I don't understand he was quite talkative earlier," she wondered aloud.

"When did he stop talking," Neville asked trying to help?

"Just after you showed up actually, have you two ever met before," she asked Neville.

"No, he doesn't look familiar what's his name," he asked?

"Harry, Harry Potter," she replied calmly.

Neville had an awed expression on his face and soon became embarrassed about his reaction after learning of whom he was sitting next to. This caused Harry to give them an annoyed look before he went back to ignoring them.

While Neville was getting his embarrassment under control and Hermione was still pondering the strange behavior of her new friend, one Draco Malfoy was standing in front of their compartment door surrounded by two goons. Draco opened the door with a sneer on his face noticing Neville and two strangers, 'most likely mudbloods' he thought to himself with a sneer.

"We've heard Harry Potter is in this compartment," he said looking at the boy on the end staring out the window.

Harry completely ignored him while Neville was looking between Harry and Draco nervously wondering what he should do while Hermione was staring at the intruder with suspicious eyes.

"Look at me while I'm talking to you mudblood or are you just too stupid to hear me" Draco continued with a sneer on his face while the two goons behind them snickered lightly.

Harry continued to ignore Draco making him angrier until Hermione spoke up.

"I don't know who you are or what right you have to order us around but why are you looking for Harry Potter," she asked in a huff of anger?

Draco turned his gaze on to Hermione with a sneer on his face "that's none of your business, he replied in a superior like tone. Well if none of you are going to tell me what I want to know I'll just have to make you," he drawled while pulling out his wand.

Immediately Harry stood with his wand in his hand ready to defend himself and Hermione if need be. Draco seeing this smiled thinking he'd have an easy time hexing the mudblood and squib. He was just on the first syllable of the hex he wanted to throw when Harry sent out three stunner spells hitting Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle in rapid succession knocking all three out instantly. Harry walked over to them removed their wands from them then floated the three down the corridor away from theirs before coming back inside and staring out the window, once again ignoring anyone and everyone.

Hermione tried various times throughout the rest of the train ride to get Harry to tell her what spell he had used, how he learned it, what book it was in and all manner of other questions, but Harry refused to even acknowledge her presence or Neville, still looking out the window not even looking in their direction.

Once the train arrived at the station everyone got off the, older kids headed towards a wooded area while all the first years made their to the docks and got on boats directed towards Hogwarts. Once their the first years made their way to the grand hall there at the door way stood a much older woman with a small grimace on her face. The woman introduced herself as Professor McGonagall and instructed the students to wait their turn for the sorting hat before being seated. Harry waited patiently for his turn examining the room around him.

His concentration brook at the sound of Professor McGonagall's voice "Miss Hermione Granger"

'Why does this girl always seem bother me even when she is doing nothing to me?' Harry thought as he couldn't help but wonder what house she would be in.

"Ravenclaw" the hat spoke and with delight the girl moved to her houses table.

Harry continued examining the room he was so fascinated with it he didn't even hear professor McGonagall call his name.

"Harry Potter is there something wrong?" McGonagall exclaimed.

Now snapped out of his daze Harry gave an embarrassed look and went towards the sorting hat.

"Ravenclaw" the hat spoke and with that he walked over to the Ravenclaw table, not sure if he really wanted to be in Ravenclaw considering that the annoying girl Hermione was in Ravenclaw as well, but decided to go with it any way. After dinner the first years were lead to their dorms. The riddle password for the door was quite easy for Harry to get considering all of time he a spent in the library. Harry was very delighted to learn that Ravenclaw had its own room for every student. Harry was now for sure that he wanted to be Ravenclaw.

...

As soon as harry got the chance he created a thousand clones thinking it would be enough to keep eyes and ears in all parts of the castle. While spying on all of Hogwarts one of his clones, that changed into a bug, noticed a pair of boys with flaming red hair talking rather strangely to a boy Harrys age but of same hair color.

"Leave me alone" the young boy whined

"Why would we want" one boy spoke

"to abandon our brother" the other boy spoke

"in his time of need." the clone took the notice that the pair were twins and that this was some sort of family matter.

"What do you mean time of need?" the young boy again whined.

"Getting lost on your"

"way to the dorms"

"is a very serious matter"

"that should be handled"

"very quietly and discreetly"

The young boy looked very pensively at the twins "Fred and George handling something quite and discreetly don't make me laugh." the young boy said with great confidence. "besides I am not lost I know where the Gryffindor common room is."

"Then why are you heading"

"into the girls bathroom?"

Not sure what these twins were up to; the clone was intrigued and skittered over closer to see what would happen.

Seeming very confused the young boy asked "Are you sure, I thought that was the girls bathroom." He pointed across the hall next to where the twins were standing.

"Of course were sure; we '

"are third years who know"

"this castle better than"

"you ever will Ron"

the young boy, named Ron apparently, lead the way into the direction his twin brothers were heading. As soon as he took one step in the twins pulled their wands and the doors shut behind Ron. Ron now yelling "Hey, let me out this isn't funny!"

"then why are we"

"laughing so hard"

Amused at the show he just witnessed the clone decided he would have to watch out for these twins Fred and George and should probably figure out which one is Fred and which one is George.

Several of the clones went to check out the library there they found a section so covered in dust it looks like it had been forgotten for centuries. One of the clones noticed a shelf in the section named Ninja Magic. Quite amused at the thought of ninjas doing magic the clone perused the books on the shelf. The clone came to one book he thought very interesting Shadow Clones. Removing the book from its shelf he opened and instantly started reading. The similarity to the clones described in this book and the ones Harry created were to great for it to be a coincidence. The book also had spells on how to improve the clones traits and control over them. The clone dispelled himself at once so that Harry could learn every thing the clone just had.

Once Harry was situated in his room he got a rush of memories from one of clones that had dispelled early. Once the information had stopped he knew must read the whole book so he commanded one of his clones to read the whole book and then dispel himself. Once Harry got the information he wanted he created a clone and then inscribed on the floor in incantation to make the clone more durable and allow him to check in and hear and see everything when he wanted to at any time instead of waiting for the clone to dispelled later.

Because the clones do not need to eat or drink for sustenance harry used another incantation that would allow for a clone when a clone ate or drank something it would end up in Harrys stomach. Solving the problem of how Harry was going eat while still while he stayed in his room while he sent out his clones.

Not all of Hogwarts was accessible to the clones it seems the teacher's rooms as well as the headmasters office seemed to be protected from unauthorized entry. Before the morning of the first day it took 97,403 clones to map all of Hogwarts the clones could access to find the best hiding spots to watch, listen, and not be discovered; at least not by any human.

Seeing as Harry had already read and memorized all of the first year material and started some of the second year; Harry knew the classes would be rather easy. Harry sent out his newly enchanted clone to attend classes while he studied up more on the shadow clones.

After the first day was over it seemed the annoying Granger girl wasn't going to leave Harry alone. Hermione was always two steps behind and setting next to the shadow clone in class asking questions in between answering every question a teacher asked. It seems this girl not only wanted to be the smartest but she wanted everybody else to know it.

Having memorized all books made classes rather boring for the shadow clone. But there were some classes were a bit more interesting than others. For example transfiguration was a subject Harry really wanted to learn. The first task she gave them was to turn matchsticks in to needles. Trying not to be a show off the shadow clone waited for Hermione to get their spell right to perform it himself. Little did he know she had only turned the matches silver and not into needles. This in turn provoked Hermione to ask even more questions.

When Harry entered his potions class he thought it would be no different from any of his previous classes. That is of course until professor Snape called upon him "Potter, What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to a infusion of wormwood?"

Hermione with her hand in the air ready to answer the question while the shadow clone just stared not wanting to answer the pungent and almost slimy professor.

"What is the matter mister Potter; is the question to hard to answer for the boy who lived?" asked professor Snape.

The clone quickly replied back "the answer is so simple that I thought it didn't need answering, Draught of Living Death"

Not amused with the clone's response Snape fired another question "where would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?"

Before Hermione could raise her hand the clone answered "Other than in your cupboard of potions I would say the stomach of a goat"

"What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane Potter?"

"grammatical interpretation" the shadow clone very smugly replied.

"5 points from Ravenclaw for your cheek Potter."

Harry had checked in on the clone by the time of Snapes second question and was quite impressed with the clones responses. Harry did not know why he seemed to despise him. It was decided that it was matter he should look into, it was also realized that Hermione would be asking even more questions.

Defense against the dark arts teacher professor Quirrell seemed to be a useless stuttering coward who answer to anything remotely scary is to run screaming and possibly faint. Harry decided to pay very little attention , if any at all, to this quivering man, and was thankful he had already learned his first year's study of the subject.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry Potter and the Shadow Clones

The next day the shadow clone went down to the great hall for breakfast and an owl dropped a letter in front of the clone the clone picked it up and quickly read it.

Dear Harry,

My name is Rubeus Hagrid, most people call me Hagrid, I am keeper of keys, grounds, and gamekeeper here at Hogwarts. I know you don't know me or who I am but I knew you parents and would like to talk to you if you want. My hut is outside the castle near the entrance to the forbidden forest.

When Harry checked in on his clone he was interested in what Hagrid had to say so he had his clone go down to Hagrid's hut before lunch.

With Hermione not far behind him the clone walked to the hut and knocked on the door. The door opened with a giant of a man standing behind it.

"Ahh Harry glad you could come, whus sat with you?"

"I am Hermione Grainger." Chiming in on the conversation.

"Glad to meet you, come on in. I am Rubeus Hagrid, you can call me Hagrid."

Once they were all inside Hagrid couldn't help but stare at Harry's shadow clone.

"Is there something on my face?" the clone asked.

"Sorry, I don't know if anyone has told you his but yur the spittin image of yur father, got yur mothers eyes though. Tell me what do you know about yur parents?"

"Only what I have read from old papers from the Daily Prophet. They were killed by Lord Voldemort for standing up to him."

"You shouldn't say his name" Hagrid replied very startled.

"Why?" Hermione asked

"Because it not somethun that ought not be said" Hagrid replied

Hermione knowing her question wasn't fully answered decided not press the subject and move on to the reason why they were here. "Do you know something about Harry's family that the papers don't?"

"It's not what I know that they don't, it's the things they don't tell you or they just got wrong that I know."

Hermione's inquisitive nature was rather useful for once now that the clone wasn't her target. Hagrid seem to know quite a bit about Harry's parents. Harry's farther was in Gryffindor and had three unique friends that he always hung around with calling themselves the Maruaders; Sirius Black (Hagrid muttered something un-hearable by both Hermione ant the clone with Blacks name), Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. The four Gryffindor spent a lot of time together pulling pranks and getting into trouble their main target of humiliation was Severus Snape the current potions master of Hogwarts. Harry was very interested to find his mother was in Ravenclaw and she was good friends with Snape while they were attended Hogwarts together. Apparently there was a big reason for Snape to hate his father but not Harry himself. Harry and Hermione left after an hour due to Hermione's hunger.

On the way to the great hall for lunch they were met by three boys the very same three boys that were on the train demanding to know were Harry Potter was.

"So you're Harry Potter; I am Draco Malfoy and I must say I owe you one for before." Draco sneered as he glared at the shadow clone.

"Am I suppose to know you or something?" playing dumb and showing very little interest about the boys in front of him.

"Those are the three boys you trounced on the train." Hermione chimed in.

Shooting Hermione an evil glare "Like I said Potter I owe you one. You may have caught me off guard on the train but in a wizards duel I would flatten you."

"Big talk for such a little mouth." the clone retorted, while Hermione

"Midnight, wands only, no contact meet at the trophy room." Draco barked.

The shadow clone and Hermione continued to head to the Great Hall for lunch while Malfoy and his bunch headed off somewhere else.

"You know what a wizard duel is?" Hermione asked

"Its like a muggle duel with wands instead of swords." The shadow clone answered.

When the shadow clone and Hermione reached the Great Hall food was practically spilling of the table. Everyone seemed to be as stunned and confused as Hermione and the shadow clone were. The same over abundance of food appeared at dinner as well.

When the real Harry checked in on things and learned of the event he decided to look in on the kitchen. There stood Dumbledore talking to a very small creature with long ears and only one scrap of clothing to cover its body. The kitchen seem to be full of these little creatures

"Why are you making so much food for the students?" the head master asked very calmly and soothingly.

"According to the counter wees uses there isses lots of studentses at Hogwarts and wees has to make sure there was enough food." The small creature in front of Dumbledore replied.

Dumbledore moved to a small device near picked it up and inspected it. "Probably just a prank; might be the Weasley twins getting into mischief again." As he sat the device back down.

Harry had thought spying on all of Hogwarts would have been a big help to him. But only hearing rumors about what is hidden in the third floor corridor wasn't worth the attention the numerous clones were getting and the headaches he was getting having to maintain them were becoming to great. Harry decided he would have to hold back on the clones he had in Hogwarts and have them do roaming sweeps.

Harry was ready to send his shadow clone for the duel after he did a quick check in with his clones. It seems Draco is a sniveling coward that wasn't going to show and suggested to Filtch that students might be wandering around after curfew near the trophy room.

With the curiosity of what was really in the third floor in his mind and knowing where Filtch would be for a while Harry decided to head out for the third floor corridor.

As he was leaving he found Hermione outside waiting for him. "What are you doing here?" Harry for once asking a question to Hermione.

"I did some reading on wizard duel and seems you need a second just in case you become mortally wounded." Hermione answered.

"Oh, Draco wasn't going to show and told Filtch where would be so that we will get into trouble."

"How do you know that, and where are you going now that there is no duel?"

"I over heard Draco talking to Filtch after dinner, and I am quite curious as to the truths behind the rumors about the third floor corridor."

"You mean the very same third floor corridor that Dumbledore warned all students not to go to if they did not wish to meet a most terrible death."

"Yeah I guess."

"You guess, YOU GUESS"

Two students popped out at the sound of Hermione's voice "Why are you two making such a noise." One of the Weasley twins spoke as they came into view. Harry cast a quick identifier charm on the twins so he could see who was Fred and who is George. To any one not wearing Harry's glasses that he had charmed you would not be able to see the names Fred and George floating above the two boys.

"Harry here is planning on going to third floor corridor." Hermione replied

"That's exactly where we're heading." Said Fred

"Why are you going to the third floor corridor?" Hermione asked.

"It's quite simple Dumbledore said not to so that's exactly what we are doing." Fred stated

"Why are you going to the third floor corridor?" George asked

"Curiosity" Harry answered quickly.

"Ah, but you do know" Fred started

"Curiosity killed the cat" George finished

"You forget, satisfaction brought him back." Hermione added.

"You are all wrong stupidity killed the cat; curiosity was framed." Harry said confidently.

"Then it is a good thing we didn't bring Ron." Fred said as both the twins laughed

"Yes, mom would kill us if anything happened to her special ronniekens." George added

"Who is Ron, and why is he special?" Hermione asked.

"He is our brother a first year like the two of you." Fred answered

"He is special because he is rather slow; when you meet ask him what two plus two is." George stated

The four of them headed off in silence sneaking by prefects and ghosts to check to the ominous third floor corridor. The twins were first to break the silence when they reached the corridor.

"You know going on an adventure like this is more of a Gryffindor thing to do, not Ravenclaw." Fred blurted a questioning tone.

"You two going on an adventure on impulse is the Gryffindor thing to do. Us seeking knowledge and answers is the Ravenclaw thing to do." Hermione replied.

Searching the third floor corridor was rather boring; finding nothing of interest or of danger until they saw Ms. Norris Filtch's cat, it seems Filtch had got tired of waiting in the trophy room for them.

"We need to hide quickly." Harry stated. All four students ran to the nearest door.

"Locked" the twins, said simultaneously about to pull out their wands.

Hermione with her wand already out and waving; saying "Alohomora" the lock and door opened right away and all four students rushed in shutting the door behind them not noticing what is in the room.

"Nice charm, although not the spell we would have used." George said practically turning his nose up

"ohh, and what spell would that be?" Hermione inquired.

"Reducto" the twins said simultaneously.

"and alert the entire school where we were?" Hermione asked. It was obvious the twins were joking to get a rise out of Hermione, which they succeeded.

Harry made a note to learn about the spells the others were talking about. Harry turned around and then said "I think we need to leave."

Only looking at Harry, Hermione asked "Why, Filtch could still be out there?"

"Facing Filtch would be better than facing that." As Harry pointed at a monstrous three headed dog growling at them. All four students rushed out of the room just as quickly as they rushed in and again shut the door behind them. Relieved to find that there was no Filtch or his cat around to see them.

"What is a dog like that doing in a castle." Hermione asked.

"Don't you know?" Fred asked

"That's where Ravenclaw's serve detention." George answered

"ha ha, you honestly think I am going to believe that." Hermione said defensively.

"The dog was standing on a trap door it was obviously guarding something and I intend on asking Hagrid what it is." Harry interjected.

"Why would you want to ask Hagrid?" Hermione asked rather confused.

"The door had a lock, every lock has a key, and Hagrid is the Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts. He is also the game keeper so he must know something about the dog and what it is guarding." Harry replied.

"What fun is it when you are going to be all logical about things." Fred complained

"Fun aside we should probably ask the teachers questions they might know a little more than Hagrid on the subject." Hermione said.

"They're they go again being all rational, its like they're not even listening to us." George now complaining.

"Maybe if you said something helpful we might be more responsive." Hermione retorted.

"Who wants to be helpful?" the twins said simultaneously.

With that the four students headed back the way they came to their dorms until they came upon some of the small long eared creatures from the kitchens attacking what look liked bugs. Harry suddenly got a rush of memories hit him those things were attacking his transformed clones not bugs.

"What are they and what are they doing?" Hermione asked.

"They're houseelves, they used to be slaves to some of the richest wizarding families until most of them were set free." Fred answered

"They work here in the castle making food, and keeping the castle clean." George stated

"You don't usually see them outside the kitchen though." Fred stated

"They are probably just getting rid of pests." George stated

The four waited for the houseelves to pass by to part ways and head back to their dorms.

The next morning Harry sent his shadow clone down early to breakfast and wanted him to make sure he got a seat where Draco could see him as he walked into the Great Hall. The look on Draco's face when he to breakfast turned from vast amusement to shock at the sight of seeing the shadow clone eating breakfast. Draco took a seat at the Slytherin table with a bit of a frown. When the mail came as it always did a dirty brown colored owl flew over Draco and dropped what looked like a rock into a bowl of porridge right in front of Draco splashing him and everyone near him with porridge.

Crabbe reached into the bowl to find the stone the owl had dropped but all he found was a note with Malfoy written on the front.

"Here Draco it has your name on it" the pudgy first year said while holding the bit of parchment.

Snatching the note from his underling's hand he read it aloud. "Nice try Malfoy" Draco looked around and saw the Shadow Clone with a very amused smile. Draco pointed and said "Potter is the one that did this." By now several teachers had gathered around to se what had happened.

"Considering that Mr. Potter has been sitting here for twenty before you came in and has yet to leave his seat it is very doubtful he could have pulled this little trick off." explained Professor McGonagall.

"He could have trained his owl to wait for the mail to come so that he would have an alibi." Draco heartily retorted with almost a snort to the teacher.

"I have seen Mr. Potters owl it is a snowy white colored female the owl that dropped this was a dirty brown colored male. Two very different birds Mr. Malfoy, and ten points from Slytherin for your rudeness to a teacher." McGonagall said with a bit of anger and displeased tone.

"but I know it was him" Draco grunted angrily.

"Knowing something and proving something are two entirely different things." Professor Flitwick stated as he chimed in on the conversation "Do you have any proof that Mr. Potter had anything to do with what happened?"

Draco sat angrily quite as he knew he couldn't say anything without getting himself into trouble. Snape grabbed him by the arm pulling right out of his seat. "You and I need to have a little chat Malfoy." as he practically shoved Draco out of the Great Hall.

The real Harry was brimming with delight after he checked with his clone in the Great Hall. He then heard a rasp at his window it was the dirty brown colored owl that dropped the stone in front of Draco. Harry let the bird and then let transform back to shape of one his clone before he dispelled it. The day had begun with an enormously good start.

At the end of the first week the schedule for broom lessons where up Gryffindor and Slytherin where to be taught on Tuesday, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff on Thursdays. This happen to be the only class Harry wanted to attend himself so he had his shadow clone stay in the room to read up on another ninja magic book his other clones had found called the "Byakugan" as well as two other books "A Thousand Useful Charms" and "Offensive Spells". By the time Harry had reached the field for the lesson it had already started.

Hermione was rather shocked to see Harry be late. "Why are you late? You know how to get around Hogwarts better than most other students?" Hermione inquired.

Before Harry could come up with a lie, Madame Hooche took back control of the class. "Ok, I want everyone to place their hands above their brooms and say up."

Harry did as instructed and was the only one to have his broom come up to his hand on the first try. Hermione was rather aggravated it took her twelve times to say up before the broom finally reached her hand. To Harry's disappointment the lesson composed of simple hovering and medial maneuvering.

Near the end of the lesson Madame Hooche looked at all the children "For those who think you are skilled with a broom lets see how well you do in a race. Here are the rules: First one to the end of the Quiditch field and back is the winner, there will be no bumping, shoving, ramming, or any physical contact of students while on your brooms allowed."

Several students including Harry lined up for the race and with a blow of the whistle they were off. Harry was off like a shot ahead of everyone else with only a couple of others on his tale all the way to end of the Quiditch field. Harry made a sharp turn and retained most of his speed while the others had to slow down with a wide turn. Harry had given himself a significant lead on all of his classmates for the return trip making for an easy win.

Madame Hooche was standing on the field with a fascinated smile on her face. "Very good Mr. Potter with skills like that you would make a fine Seeker you must talk to Professor Flitwick about getting you on the Quiditch team as soon as possible."

Harry did as suggested and found Mr. Flitwick at his classroom with Hermione trailing behind. "Professor Flitwick may I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter what would you like to talk about?" Mr. Flitwick asked.

"Professor Hooche has given me a recommendation for being seeker in the Quiditch team."

"She has?" asking rather doubtfully.

"She did, there was a race and Harry beat everyone with ease." Hermione chimed in.

"Be that as it may not only are first years not allowed to participate in Quiditch matches, we already have a fine seeker playing for our team. But this is her seventh year and she will be graduating so I see no reason why you can't practice with the team, so that you're ready for next year when you can play. I will talk Madame Hooche to confirm what she says as well as the team captain to get your training started." Professor Flitwick said to the Harry and Hermione.

As Harry and Hermione were heading back to their dorms, Fred and George cut them off. "Did you learn anything about that three headed dog yet?" Fred asked

"No, after asking the first two teachers all the other teachers told me they didn't know anything about a three headed dog before I could even ask them." Said Hermione

"You haven't asked Hagrid yet" Harry pointed out.

"Do you really think he knows more about what's going on in Hogwarts than any of the teachers?" asked Hermione

"No, but the fact the teachers preempt your questions with the answer "I don't know" means the teachers know something they don't want us to know. Also Hagrid might be more willing to talk us being that we are his friends." Harry said with a tone of arrogance in his voice.

"We are friends with Hagrid too." Fred declared

"We'll come with you." George stated.

"Why, there is no adventure in going to ask Hagrid questions?" Hermione asked

"True, but the fact you have the teachers blatantly lying to you means you are on the right track for adventure." Fred answered

With an aggravated grunt from Hermione they made their way to Hagrid's hut. Hagrid saw the four students heading his way and greeted them with a smile. "Fred, George, Harry, and Hermione come to see little ol me have ya."

"No we came to see Fang; …. Of course we came to see you Hagrid" Harry replied.

"Very funny Harry, why don't we all come inside for some tea." Hagrid said as he opened the door of the hut ushering all four students in. Once everyone was seated and had a cup of tea Hagrid turned to Harry and said "So I hear you were recommended to be the Ravenclaw's seeker by Madame Hooche herself."

"Your joining the Ravenclaw Quiditch team." George exclaimed, as both twins seemed insulted

"Harry's allowed to practice with team but, with the rule that first years are not allowed to play he cant play in the tournament."

"You do know that me and George are on the Gryffindor team?" George asked rhetorically.

"Hagrid, we have come to ask if you now about a three headed dog in the castle?" Hermione asked.

"Who told you about Fluffy?" Hagrid answered.

"A huge three headed dog named Fluffy." Fred exclaimed

"Only you Hagrid would give a beast a name like that." George stated

"Fluffy is not a beast he is a very gentle, brave, and loyal dog. Just a bit bigger than most dogs is all." Sounding rather hurt at the twin's comment of Fluffy.

"Sorry Hagrid." the twins said simultaneously.

"So what can you tell us about Fluffy and why he is in the castle?" Hermione asked.

"I am afraid that is official Hogwarts business, so I am not allowed to tell yall anythin." stated Hagrid

"Can you tell us what is under the trap door it is guarding?" Harry asked

"Only that it is nothin you four need to worryin about. An that's all I'll have to say on the subject. Now you four should be getting back to class. It is getting dark and I suspect dinner will be ready soon." Hagrid replied as he opened the door to usher them back out; the four students reluctantly did has Hagrid asked.

The four students headed back to the castle feeling that their trip was rather unsuccessful in their endeavor to find out anything about why Fluffy is in the castle.

"Well that was a waste of time we didn't learn anything." Hermione declared

"is that what you think Hermione?" Harry replied

"Well we did learn that the dogs name is Fluffy." Hermione

"That may be what you have learned but I have gleamed much more than that from our conversation with Hagrid." Harry

"Explain" the twins said simultaneously.

"Well first is that Hagrid seems to find out information faster than anyone. Me getting recommended for being Seeker only happened an less a than an hour before we went over their. Second the whole Hogwarts staff seems to know about and Fluffy and what ever it is guarding. Third the fact the teachers deny the existence of Fluffy and Hagrid said it isn't something we need not to worry about that the adults have things taken care of and we should be more focused on our classes." Harry explained

"Why must you two be so logical?" exclaimed the twins simultaneously.

"Its our muggle up bringing." answered Hermione

"Explain" the twins said simultaneously.

"Muggles don't use magic so they use logic instead, and that is what they teach their children. Me and Harry where raised by Muggles so logic comes naturally to us." Hermione explained as the four entered the Great Hall as they saw dinner had already been laid out for them as usual.


	5. Chapter 5

The next week Harry started his practice with Roger Davies in the Quiditch field. Davies was already out on the field with a maroon trunk waiting on the field for him.

"Hello Harry are you ready for your first lesson?" Harry nodded "Right than first thing is that there are seven players on one team three Chasers, …. But the ball I want you to worry about is this the golden snitch." as Davies held out his hand revealing a small golden ball with wings that flew into the air "As you can see its very fast and near impossible to see. Now there are class brooms you can use but those models are all ancient and not in the best condition I suggest you buy your own broom."

"But how? its not like there is any broom shops here in the castle." Harry asked

"Thought you'd say that; here use this." Davies held out magazine that said "Which Broom" on it "You can order any broom shown in this magazine. Just so you now our current seeker now has a Nimbus Two-thousand it is the fastest broom to date and it is also rather expensive. Take a look at the magazine, find a broom that you can buy and have it delivered here to you at Hogwarts."

As Harry thumbed through the magazine he saw numerous brooms for sale but what Davie said about the Nimbus Two-thousand was right including how expensive it was he could afford but it would be a dent in his finances and seeing as how Harry currently had no income to make up for such a big purchase this would be a problem. He could send his clones back to try and get jobs in the muggle world until he had the money but sending his clones out such a great distance would give to great of headaches for Harry. Harry was trying to figure out how he could make money in the near by wizarding town called Hogsmeade. Until he was stopped by someone calling his name.

"Harry, might I have a word with you?" it was the headmaster of Hogwarts Professor Dumbledore

"Of course sir" Harry replied, wanting to go to his room and let his clone talk to Dumbledore.

"It has come to my attention that you have declared yourself head of the house of Potter as well as emancipating yourself from the Dursley's and have left their residence. I must ask you as to why you have done this?" said Dumbledore with a look of much interest.

"Life with the Dursley's was beyond cruel. They made me do all of their housework and barley feed me so I wouldn't die of starvation. They never forget to remind it is because of their so-called benevolence that I live in their house. They would punish if I had one hair out of line, which they thoroughly inspected for. Any orphanage would be better than living with the Dursley's." Harry said rather passionately.

The twinkle in Dumbledore eye vanished as he took in all Harry had said with a look of grave concern. "I must tell you that I am greatly sorry. I placed you with your aunt and uncle because I thought that even though your parents had been estranged from the Dursley's for years that because you were family they would raise you as such. Your mother was such a kind a gentle woman it is very hard for me to believe that her sister could be so cold to her own nephew. I was even giving them money from your accounts to help with your care. But it seems they haven't used in the way I expected at all." Harry was stunned at this information. The Dursley's had been receiving Harry's money for years and probably used all of it on their son Dudley, Harry's cousin.

"The goblins at Gringotts have been rather curios as to what I was doing with the withdrawals I have made from your accounts and have stopped me from continuing to do so. Now that I understand why, I shall inform the goblins where they can find your miss-spent money at once. I suspect you should be hearing from Gringotts soon." Said Dumbledore with a kind but yet disappointed tone, obviously not towards Harry.

It took a few days but Harry finally a got a letter from Gringotts:

Mr. Potter,

It has come to our attention that the money being withdrawn from your account has been given to your relatives. We have spoken to them and they have paid back most of what they owe at their own personal expense. We are also garnishing the wages of your uncle as well as your aunt when she starts her new job until they have paid back the money they owe in full. Enclosed with this letter is your regular account statement showing the recent transfer of funds. If you have any questions you can send them in a form of mail sent to Gringotts.

Bloodfang

Reading the letter Harry grew a big smile across his face, and then started imagining the reaction of his relatives as they watched goblins make their way down private drive to their home. Harry looked at the statement that was with the letter; the money he recently gotten back from the Dursley's would be more than enough to buy ten Nimbus Two-thousand. Harry quickly sent his order for one immediately.

…..

In the weeks that followed Harry went to Quiditch practices using Byakugan spell he had learned from the ninja magic book. The spell allowed Harry to see in all three hundred and sixty degrees around him this made finding the snitch much easier. Harry also had an easy time out flying the current seeker with his Nimbus Two-thousand even though she had her own. After practice Harry would retreated to his room where he would rest and send his shadow clone out to classes with Hermione right behind the clone. This was the normal routine for them until Halloween. After the first class of the day one of the Hufflepuff went off on Hermione; something about her not being the only one who knows the answer. Hermione had spent the rest of the day crying in the girl's bathroom. It was the best day the shadow clone had since it was created at Hogwarts, but the real Harry couldn't help but fill a twinge of guilt.

Harry was in his room making sure he kept up on his potions due to Snape's constant inspection of his work. With Snape's hatred of Harry and scrutiny of his work he was beginning to think that Snape was some how related to his uncle. An instant he was hit with a flood of memories from his clones. At first he thought it was the houseelves destroying his clone again but at the end of the memories he saw the creature responsible was much bigger than a houseelf.

Harry checked in with his shadow clone that was at the feast. Professor Quirrell had already come running screaming "TROLL IN THE DUGEON, THERE IS A TROLL IN THE DUGEON." Stopped in the middle of the Great Hall and before fainting said "thought you'd want to know." Harry only had one thought 'Useless'

All of the students except for the shadow clone had the same reaction lots of high-pitched screaming. Dumbledore broke through the noise with his own loud voice "QUITE, prefects take your students back to their dormitories and no one is to leave their dorms until I and the other teachers say otherwise. Teachers follow me."

The shadow clone did as Dumbledore instructed and followed with the rest of the students back to their dorms. Harry left his room and made his way to the girl's bathroom where Hermione had been crying, he knew that she had no idea there is a troll in the castle and needed to be warned. By the time he got to the bathroom the troll was already making its way in. Harry not knowing why rushed in after the troll and was hit with Hermione screams. The troll was making a mess of the entire bathroom.

Harry took out his wand, remembering the spells he learned form the "Offensive spells" book he waved his wand and said "Stupify" no reaction. Harry waved his wand again and said "Reducto" this knocked the troll back but apparently did very little damage to the beast. The troll's attention was now on Harry.

"Trolls are very resistant to magic. Shooting direct spells at him wont do much." Hermione shouted from the other end of the bathroom.

That's when Harry noticed the club the troll was carrying with him, the troll was resistant but the club wasn't. Harry feeling very confident waved his wand and said "Wingardium Leviosa" directing the spell at the club. Up it went out of the troll's hand floating in the air. Confused the troll reached for the club to take it back but Harry moved it just out of reach. Harry continued to play keep away with trolls club until it was out of the bathroom and a safe distance away from both he and Hermione. Harry positioned the club and swung it like a baseball bat across the troll's stomach with troll bent over and Harry swung the club up right in the trolls face. The troll stepped back dazed but not out; Harry swung the club like a bat again this time on the right side of his head, and then again on the left side, finally hammering the club down atop the trolls head smashing it into two pieces.

The troll fell back out cold this time. Harry relieved to see the troll unconscious turned to Hermione who was now standing behind him. "Are you okay, Hermione" asked Harry.

To Harry's surprise Hermione gave him a big hug. "Yes, thank you for coming. Not to be rude but why did you?" Hermione said as she let go of Harry.

It was a very good question because Harry himself had come and stead of just sending his clone; that happened to closer the bathroom Hermione was in than he was. That fact aside Harry replied "What do you mean?" easily giving a confused look.

"You come and risk your neck to fight a troll for me. But when a first year Hufflepuff attacks me you walk away with out even looking back." Hermione replied

"The Hufflepuff didn't intend on killing you, as rude as the Hufflepuff was he had a point, and I don't know anyone who could leave a friend to fight something like that on their own. Well maybe Malfoy but that's not important." Harry said

"What is wrong with wanting to learn all you can?" Hermione sounding offended.

"Nothing, but integrating people for answers like you're a beat cop, and being a show off has its problems." Harry explained. "Calm down on the questions and give other people a chance to answers the teachers questions wouldn't be a bad thing."

"So we are friends right? You did say so yourself." Said Hermione looking a little hurt about what Harry had said.

"Well if I said it must be true; lets get out of here before teachers find us." Harry said with a smile. But they were to late all of the teachers including Dumbledore had already found them and then the unconscious troll in the next hall. Harry noticed Snape standing in front of the crowd with a torn robe and a bleeding leg.

"What are the two of you doing out of your dorms?" Snape snarled at them.

"When I heard there was a troll in the castle I wanted to practice what I learned about them from what I read in the library about them. Harry came with me because he thought I shouldn't go alone and tried to convince me not to go." Hermione explained before Harry could open his mouth. "The troll was a bit more than I could handle but Harry stepped in and used the trolls own club against him knocking him out over there."

"I see, thank you for your honesty Miss Granger." Dumbledore said rather calmly.

Professor Flitwick stepped up not very happy looking at Hermione. "Fool heartedly running into a dangerous situation, bringing others with you, and blatantly disregarding the rules and orders of the professor is not something I expect from Ravenclaw students. Fifteen points from Ravenclaw for your foolish actions Mrs. Granger."

Flitwick turned to Harry "As for you Mr. Potter, loyalty and bravery or not the exact marks of a Ravenclaw but they are good things to have. Keeping cool and using your head however are marks of a Ravenclaw twenty-five points awarded to Ravenclaw. Now the two of you back to your dorms"

Harry led the way with Hermione right behind him as usual. The teachers began inspecting the troll probably trying to decide on how to get the thing out of he castle.

Harry turned to Hermione and asked "Why didn't you tell them the truth, I doubt any of us would have gotten in trouble?"

"I guess it was mostly instinct, but also I didn't want to explain why I was crying in the bathroom all day long." Hermione stated

"I guess that is okay." Said Harry as they neared the portrait guarding the passageway to their dorms. The two students solved the riddle and went in to their rooms.

The next day things were almost back to normal, Hermione still followed the clone around but it seemed she decided to take his advice from last night about not being so inquisitive and a show off. Both Harry and the shadow clone wondered how long this would last.

The shadow clone was sitting outside enjoying the peace and quite while Hermione seemed to be knee deep in a book when the Weasley twins approached. "So you went off on a adventure with out us," said Fred

"You two sure you are supposed to be in Ravenclaw?" George asked

"Listen we are with out a doubt Ravenclaw's, and what really happened…" Hermione stated defensively when the shadow clone interrupted her by whispering in her ear "you don't want the teachers to know what really happened but you are going to tell these two"

Hermione took a moment and finished her sentence with"… is our curiosity got the better of us and we just didn't want to tell the teachers that because we thought it would get us in trouble."

"What did you whisper in her ear Harry?" Fred asked

"That you both have identical milk mustaches." The shadow clone said

"What" they both exclaimed and turned to look at each other wiping their.

"I would offer a mirror but it seems you two have it covered." Hermione stated with a smile as big as Harry's

"Ha ha, very funny." George said a little irritated

"You know we were going to tell you what we overheard Snape saying to professor Quirrell but now I am not so sure we should." Fred stated

"You know you are going to tell us any way or you wouldn't have brought it up so just spit it out." the shadow clone said

"alright, Quirrell was helping bandage Snapes leg and he said "just how are you suppose to get past all three heads."" Said George.

"all three heads" exclaimed Hermione

"Snape was talking about Fluffy, he must be after what ever the dogs guarding. I bet he let the troll into the castle to distract everyone while he made his way to the third floor corridor where Fluffy is. Think about Quirrell said he saw the troll in the dungeon and that is where Snape holds his classes. He is head of Slytherin which if you ask me the whole lot cant be trusted…." Explained the shadow clone

"Agreed" said both twins simultaneously.

"…and why else would he be trying to get past Fluffy. We should talk to Hagrid about this." the shadow clone finishing what it was saying.

"Why are we going to talk to Hagrid and not to the other teachers?" Hermione asked

"Because Hagrid is the only one who would even admit to there being a three headed dog being in the castle. With the teachers denying the existence of Fluffy I doubt they would listen to us when we tell them that one of their own is trying to get past Fluffy." Harry said and with that they were off.

The four students made their way down to Hagrid's hut and found Hagrid sitting with Fang. Hagrid stood up to greet them "Hello, whats the Great Troll Smasher up to today?" it would seem Hagrid had caught wind of Harry's new nickname given to him by students.

"He has come to take on the worst the Forbidden Forest has to offer." Fred answered quickly before Harry could even get a sound out.

"Has he now? Well unfortunately I must inform the Great Troll Smasher as powerful a wizard he may be he is still not aloud to go into the Forbidden Forest." Hagrid announced.

"Fred was only joking, Harry has no intention of heading out to the Forbidden Forest. Right Harry." Hermione said giving a glance to the clone. The shadow clone confirmed with a nod.

"We have come to see you because we think Snape is going after whatever Fluffy is guarding. We want to know what it is and why Snape would be after it." Harry stated

"Listen you four what Fluffy is guarding is only the business of Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel….." with a look of oops "I shouldn't have told you that."

"Who is Nicolas Flamel?" Hermione asked quickly hoping to catch Hagrid off guard again.

"Listen I am not sayin any more on the subject I said to much already. Now why don't yall get back up to the castle I'm sure you have classes to get to." Hagrid replied.

Unfortunately Hagrid was right and Hermione and the clone's next class was potions. Obviously dreading having to walk down to the dungeon with a professor who is more than likely plotting something. Although there was some comfort in the fact that they at least had one lead Nicolas Flamel.

…

The following months passed by with normal classes, and Quiditch practices but something new has been added to the routine spelunking in the library for the name Nicolas Flamel. By Christmas Harry was no closer to finding out who Nicolas Flamel than when he had started. But that was the bad news the good news it seemed Hermione really did take what Harry said about all the questions but had gone back to being a show off by the time winter exams.

The shadow clone and Hermione were in the library still searching for the name Nicolas Flamel when the twins decided to come their way. "Have you two found anything about Nicolas Flamel yet?" asked Fred.

"Not yet, you know you two could help us look." said Hermione

"We have more important things to do than spend the day in the library." responded George.

"Oh, and what would that be exactly?" the shadow clone chimed in.

"That is for us to know and you two to find out." Fred said

"Well lets see two Gryffindor who love adventure are keeping a secrets about plans they are up to. I would say it would be something that would be breaking the rules or some sort of trouble like that." Hermione suggested.

"and I would have to agree." The shadow clone said

"Wow, we get no respect do we Fred." said George

"Maybe we should go somewhere else where were appreciated." said Fred.

"Yeah, maybe Neville would like to know what we learned about Nicolas Flamel." said George as he and Fred started to walk away.

"Hold on you two; why would Neville care about Nicolas Flamel, and what did you learn about him?" Hermione said very perplexed at the twin's previous statement.

"We asked Professor McGonagall if she knew anything about Nicolas Flamel." Fred answered.

"She said that we should check out the book "Accidental Creations and their Creators"". George further explained

"Wait; why would the teachers tell you anything when they don't tell us anything?"

"That's because they are only suspicious of you two, us they're not worried about.? Fred stated

"Well did you check out the book that McGonagall said to yet?" the shadow clone asked

"No, it is in the restricted and Miss Pence wont let us have access to it?" George said

"Well than well just have to sneak in." the shadow clone said.

"Great idea, just how are you going to do it though?" asked Fred.

"Well it will have to be at night and preferably over the holiday break when there are less teachers and students around." explained the clone. Although being a shadow clone he can easily transfigure into a teacher to gain access any time he wanted but telling the others this probably would be a good idea.

"Me and Fred will be with our family over the break so we'll just have to wait till we come back for the break to see what you find." said George

"I will be with my family over the break as well so your just going to have to sneak in alone." said Hermione

"Fine by me I will let all of you know what I find when you get back." Stated the clone as all four students headed out of the library and back to their respective dorms.

When the winter exams where over the winter break started and as Fred, George, and Hermione left over the break so did ninety percent of the class and over half the teachers. Sneaking around the castle would be a breeze for anyone, which meant it would be that much easier for any of the shadow clones Harry could send out.

Harry waited for night to fall to send out his shadow clone to the restricted section of the library. The clone made his way easily with out being seen by anyone as he entered the restricted section and started looking for the book "Accidental Creations and their Creators". Once the book was found the shadow clone lay on a table and started thumbing threw it. He wasn't finding anything on Nicolas Flamel until finally he found a page that wasn't part of the book. It wasn't ripped from the book or torn or any type of attachment to the book it seemed to just be simply placed inside. He picked up the paper and read what was written in the middle of the paper.

Nicolas Flamel

Inventor of the invisible milk mustaches and howling paper.

This was obviously a prank from the twins he understood why they put invisible milk mustaches on because it's the prank he pulled on them. But what was up with the howling paper they wrote about. The clone grabbed the book put away and as he made his way he started to crumple the piece of paper up to throw it away. Instantly a howling a sound came from paper in his hand the clone fully understood what the twins had wrote.

The clone heard some one coming into the library obviously alerted to by the howling paper making it sounds. The clone quickly headed for the one of the secret passageways hidden through out the castle before any one could see him. Once the clone was sure no one else was around he made his way back to the room where Harry was. Harry used his ability to check in on his clones to seen what had happened while his clone was out. Harry decided this meant war.


	6. Chapter 6

With Christmas coming Harry decided he should get his friends some gifts. He got Hermione the book "Greatest Wizards Over the Centuries" thinking she would enjoy it. For Hagrid he got the full set of encyclopedia for magical creatures, and for Fred and George he got the book "Quiditch Champions for the Ages" along with Harry's special blend of Berty Bots Every Flavor Beans with a note at the bottom of the bag saying "hope you enjoy my mood beans, let the prank wars begin."

When Christmas morning finally came round Harry woke to find gifts sitting inside his room. The first one he opened was from Hagrid it was a wooden flute that looked like Hagrid had whittled it himself. The second gift was from Hermione she had gotten him a book "Hogwarts a History" the next was Fred and George's gift they had gotten him a book as well "Basic Guide for Magical Pranks". The twins would soon realize giving him this book would be a mistake. The last and final gift didn't have a name written or attached to it so he didn't know whom it was from. He opened it and found a cloak of strange material he held up and looked at it inspecting it to see if there were any special properties. As far as he could tell there was nothing special about this cloak. He looked back in the box the cloak it came in and found a note laying inside it the note read "Your father left this in my possession long ago. It is long time I returned it you."

Harry wrapped the cloak around him to check it out and when he looked down he noticed the cloak and the rest of his body were gone. He looked in the mirror and he only saw his head just floating in the air. Both his body and the cloak were still there it just couldn't be seen. It was obvious the cloak turned anything under it invisible only logical explanation was that this was an invisibility cloak. not knowing who this mysterious benefactor was that had been holding onto it.

The rest of the holiday break passed unremarkably with still no luck in the library finding the Nicolas Flamel. The only section left to check in the library would be the historic section. People in those books were alive centuries ago and have long died he didn't see what relevance they would have for his current situation. Besides the way Hagrid talked it seemed this Nicolas Flamel was still alive.

When people started returning form the break the twins were the first to approach the shadow clone both looking as red as their hair. When they came up to the shadow clone he greeted with a smile saying, "Red is a god color for you two matches your hair." Both twins turned a darker shade of red right in front of Harry

Though the smiles on their face didn't show it.

"Just wait Potter you may have one this battle." Said Fred

"But this war is far from over, and we do not intend to loose." Said George

"I guess I will be seeing you boys around then." Said the clone very smugly.

He was heading to the great hall when he saw Hermione rushing towards him. "How did you find him? We've been looking for months and you never said anything about being close to finding him. Did the book the twins told us about help?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, back up a little a bit; who did I find?" said a rather confused clone

"Nicolas Flamel of course he was in the book you sent "Greatest Wizards Over the Centuries" look here." Hermione pulled out the book Harry had gotten her for Christmas and opened the book where she pointed to a passage on it she wanted the clone to read. "Nicolas Flamel is known to be the greatest wizard of the fourteenth century for his discovery of the Sorcerers Stone. The Sorcerers Stone can transform any metal into gold by a simple touch. It also produces the elixir of life that will make the drinker immortal. Nicolas Flamel now celebrates his six hundred and fifty-fifth birthday with his long wed wife who is six hundred and fifty-eight years old."

"So how did you find him, was it with the twins help?" Hermione asked again

"No, the twins so called help was a prank they pulled on me to get back at me for pranking them after Halloween. As for Nicolas Flamel being in this book I didn't know he was in there; I thought you just might like to read the book."

"Really this an amazing breakthrough in our search and you had no idea it was in there?" asked Hermione

"Yeah, I guess we got really lucky. At least we know now what Fluffy is guarding and why Snape wants it. Not only could the stone make him incredibly wealthy but immortal as well if he wanted." Said the Clone.

"I guess you're right; we need to stop Snape before he can get to the stone." Hermione said.

"Well it is not like he can get past Fluffy and there is the fact that Snape would be foolish to try anything while Dumbledore is still here. Though we should tell Hagrid not just because he is the only one who will listen to us but also he is the one who takes care of Fluffy. If we warn Hagrid about Snape he will be better prepared for him." the Clone explained

the pair headed to Hagrid's hut but he wasn't there "Maybe he is still on the holiday break we will tell him when he gets back." Hermione said as they headed back to the castle.

The days past normally with their normal classes as Harry and Hermione waited for Hagrid to finally return from wherever he was. During dinner the elves provided treacle tart for dessert at the Ravenclaw's and no other it was Harry's favorite dessert although he wasn't actually at the dinner his clone was as usual. The clone and several other Ravenclaw's gobbled it down.

The feast was still going on when a very strange sight occurred several Ravenclaw's started to sprout eagles feathers or an eagle's beak or even both. The shadow clone who had not sprouted and bird like features looked over at the Gryffindor table right at the twins who seem to have shocked looks as to why the clone they think is Harry did not seemed to be affected.

The clone held up two fingers with one hand and cupped his other hand for a zero signally what the score was. Meanwhile back in Harry's room a very confused and bewildered Harry was trying to keep his glasses from falling off his beak that came out of nowhere. Harry checked in with is clone at the feast and all became clear. The twins had actually won this round but they didn't need to know that. The twins will obviously try again soon he would need to be ready with his own prank as well.

…..

Hagrid finally returned after the second week of starting classes. His hut had all of the windows boarded up and Hagrid was rarely seen outside. Both the shadow clone and Hermione went up to Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. Hagrid opened and greeted them. "Hello, I am sorry but I can not entertain you'll today I'm v"

"We know about the Sorcerers Stone Hagrid." Hermione said cutting Hagrid off before he could finish his sentence.

With a disapproving look on Hagrid's face he ushered both students into his hut. Shutting the door behind them checking to make sure there was no one else outside who could see or hear them.

"We know that Snape wants the stone to make him rich or immortal." The clone stated taking a seat next to the fireplace.

"Snape is one of teachers guarding the stone, he is not about to steal it. I shouldn't have told you that; I should not have told you that." He continued to mutter to himself as he started to stoke the fire. The clone noticed something very strange with the fireplace.

"Hagrid what is in that large egg and why is it in your fireplace." Clone asked a little concerned noticing that most of the hut seemed to fire proofed since they had last been inside and that Hagrid seemed to be wearing a heavy apron and oven gloves. The egg started to shake and rattle from within.

"It seems were going to find out sooner than I expected." Said Hagrid as he pulled the egg out of the fireplace and set on the table. The egg continued to rattle and shake until it finally started to crack. A few seconds later the egg seemed to explode and out came a small green lizard like creature with what looked like wings. They were wings and even more astonished look came across the clones face as the small creature blew a small fireball out at Hagrid. "Look he recognizes his own mother; that a boy Norbert."

"Hagrid where did you get a dragons egg and why are you keeping it?" Hermione asked with a tone of fright in her voice.

"I won him off a bloke playing cards, seemed to be quite happy to get rid of it matter of fact. And what do you mean why am I keeping him? He's my dragon and I intend on raising him." Hagrid sounding rather hurt.

"Hagrid I think Hermione was concerned about how you are going to conceal having a dragon here at Hogwarts. I mean Norbert can't stay here in your hut he's going to grow out of it sooner or later. There is also the chance if some wondering student could happen upon Norbert and who knows what happen then?" the clone said trying to keep everyone calm.

Norbert had jumped off the table and was starting to tear the hut apart little by little. "Hagrid I cant imagine that being caught with a dragon near a school would be good thing for you." the clone further explained.

"Norbert is just a baby and an egg when I got him what was I supposed to do?" Hagrid asked

"Let him stay with his own kind there are lands where dragons live peacefully. You can send him to live there and you will always know Norbert is your dragon." Hermione chimed in.

"I guess yall are right but where how am I going to get to any one of those places?" Hagrid asked

"Hagrid you are a games keeper don't you know other people in your line of work that work with dragons?" Hermione trying nicely to point out.

Hagrid thought for a moment and a look of inspiration hit him. "Charlie Weasley, you know his younger brothers Fred, George, Percy, and Ron."

"We only know Fred and George never met any of their other family although if they all have the same red hair and are part of Gryffindor they should be easy to spot. How can their brother Bill help?" the shadow clone said

"When Charlie was here in Hogwarts we talked a lot and he was always very interested in the care of magical creatures. He sends me letters occasionally last one I got said he was working with Dragons on Romania he could take Norbert with him." Hagrid said.

"We'll go talk to Fred and George immediately they probably know the best way to get hold of their brother. We'll ask him if he can help us with Norbert?" Hermione stated and with that the two students were off.


	7. Chapter 7

The shadow clone and Hermione found the twins coming from the Quiditch field they had obviously just left practice. "We need to talk seriously about Hagrid, so a temporary truce agreed." The clone said. Hermione had a rather puzzled look on her face. The clone forgot he hadn't told her about the prank wars he and the twins had started.

"Agreed, what's up?" both twins said simultaneously

"Not here where anyone and everyone can here us." The clone said

"Professor McGonagall class is empty for the next hour we can go there and talk." Suggested Hermione. All four students headed to Professor McGonagall class to talk.

"So what has Hagrid gotten himself into?" asked Fred

"He won a dragon egg in a poker game and decided to hatch and raise the dragon himself. The dragon is already hatched and tearing up Hagrid's hut." The shadow clone stated. "We have convinced Hagrid that the Norbert can't stay here and needs to be with other dragons. He said that you two have a brother Charlie who works with dragons in Romania. We were hoping you would be able o contact your brother Charlie for us."

"I thought you wanted to talk seriously?" said George

"Yeah and who names a dragon Norbert?" asked Fred who seemed to agree with George.

"Hagrid apparently, besides that is not the point. If you do not believe we're telling the truth you can go down Hagrid's hut and see for your self. We came to you because we need somebody sneaky to help get a dragon unseen out of the castle to its new home." Hermione said rather firmly with a tone of sternness and annoyance at the twins. Strangely the twin's faces of certain doubt turned to full belief in what they were saying.

"Alright we believe you." said Fred

"Well send a letter to our brother Charlie and come up with a plan to get Norbert out of here with out anyone else knowing about it." Said George.

"Something that might help with your plans is that I was given an invisibility cloak from a secret Santa." Said the clone

"You're telling us this now." Exclaimed Fred

"Who gave it to you?" asked George

"If I knew that I wouldn't have said secret Santa, and I had other plans for the cloak pertaining to other matters between us." Said the clone. The twins gave an understanding nod with contemplating glance at each other as if they were talking with out actually saying anything.

"Speaking of which why do the three of you need a truce so that you can talk to each other." Hermione asked

"We have started a war involving pranking each other." Said Fred

"We thought it was us against you two." Said George

"But seeing as you are in the dark about the matter Hermione." Said Fred

"It would be the two of us against Harry." Said George

"When did this whole thing start?" asked Hermione

"Christmas when I sent the twins mood beans with their Christmas gift and a note letting them now the war was on." The clone explained rather plainly to Hermione

"Is that why their skin was changing color on the train ride back from break and two days after. Wait; what about the treacle tarts that gave several Ravenclaw's feathers and beaks." Asked Hermione

"That would be our prank on Harry." Said Fred

"We knew the tarts are Harry's favorite and that he would eat one." Said George

"But Harry didn't grow feathers or a beak like the others." Hermione interjected

"We have been trying to figure that out ourselves." Said Fred as all three other students looked at the shadow clone expecting an answer.

It was true the tarts didn't affect the clone because of Harry's spell that would magically deliver any food the clone ate straight to Harry's stomach. Harry who was in his room where no one else could see him had actually grown a beak but only Harry and the shadow clone new that. The clone had to come up with a quick and believable explanation. "The two of you only sent tarts to the Ravenclaw table the other three house tables got the same dessert. It was obvious that my favorite dessert was there for some nefarious reason concocted by the twins. Which is why I did not eat any of the tart." The twins looked convinced but for some reason Hermione didn't.

"It seems you are a more worthy foe than we had expected." Said Fred the twins headed out of the classroom.

"Yes once this truce is over we will have to really up our game." Said George as the two exited

"So what is the real explanation? Because I know I saw you eat the treacle tart with the others." Hermione said when she sure the twins couldn't hear her.

"That's my story and I am sticking to it." Said the shadow clone with a bit of a smile

"How very American of you." Hermione said with smirk.

"I am not sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult." The clone stated

"You should take it how I meant it." Hermione said

"Could you be a little more specific?" the clone asked

"You know these pranks will probably cost our house points." Hermione changing the subject.

"Only if I get caught pulling off the prank and I am not that sloppy. Besides I didn't hear you complaining to the twins about losing points." The clone said defensively

"Their both Gryffindor, I honestly don't care if their house losses points." Explained Hermione.

"So you want me not to fight back in a two on one war I started where my enemies are those two?" the clone asked

"You said it yourself you started this war so you only have yourself to blame." Hermione said with a high and mighty tone.

"Regardless of that little fact I am not going back down from this prank war, it is going to go on for a while." The clone said

"Well than I guess this war will be two on one on one." Hermione said

"What does that mean? Are you going to take me on individually from the twins?" the clone asked rather curious about what is transpiring

"No I will be stopping all three of you from pulling any of your pranks." Hermione stated

"You will try to stop us, but I doubt you will stop me." The clone confidently stated

"We'll see about that." Said Hermione as she and the clone left the now empty classroom for lunch in the Great Hall. The clone was silently contemplating whether or not to tell the twins about the new player in their war.

…..

The clone, Hermione, and the twins met outside Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. "Come in, hurry." as Hagrid quickly ushered them in. Hagrid little hut was a shambles little Norbert had grown to the size of a dog and seemed to be hell bent on destroying Hagrid's hut cinder by cinder.

"We have come up with a plan to get Norbert safely out of here with out anyone seeing him." Fred proudly stated

"We are going to use Harry's invisibility cloak to hide Norbert as we sneak him up to the astronomy tower." George said

"Charlie and some of his friends will be there waiting, they will take good care of Norbert and take him back to Romania." Fred finished

"Norbert is still a rather young and feisty dragon. How are we suppose to sneak him to the astronomy tower even with the invisibility cloak?" asked Hermione

"Norbert is a fine dragon he wont be any trouble." Hagrid interjected.

"Be that as it may we need to make sure no one accidentally gets to close or we might be found out." the clone said.

"That is why we are going at dark, empty hallways will make getting to the tower easier." Fred answered

"We will stay ahead to make sure the coast is clear and you two will stay with Norbert under the cloak." George continued

"So we are going to wait here until its dark and take Norbert up to the tower?" asked Hermione

"No; Charlie and his friends haven't made it this far yet." Fred answered

"He will send an owl to us when there near by and then we will come and find you?" George continued.

"Good me and Norbert will have time to see the forest before he goes." Hagrid said

"I guess there is nothing we can do until you get that letter from your brother." Said the clone.

"Are we going to hold our truce until then?" asked Fred

"We can put a temporary hold until you get the letter from Charlie if you like." The clone answered; the original Harry had checked in with his clone at this time and informed his clone to be ready.

"We had hoped you would say something like that." George said as both twins grinned from ear to ear.

"What are you lot going on about now?" Hagrid asked

"We are in a prank war." Hermione explained

"We?" both twins said simultaneously rather shocked.

"Yes, this war is no longer a two on one but a two on one on one." Hermione explained

"Explain" both twins said simultaneously

"You two and Harry will be trying to prank each other while I will be stopping you." Stated Hermione

"I believe it more like you will be trying to stop us while we prank each other." Said Fred with a tone of both confidence and arrogance

"Also you may catch Harry but you wont be catching us." Said George with the same tone of confidence and arrogance Fred had.

"Harry said almost the same thing when I told him." Hermione

"So you knew and you didn't tell us?" asked Fred

"For shame Harry for shame." Said George

"Like the two of you would tell me if you knew about this before I did?" the clone rhetorically asked

"True but we hold you to be a much more finer of character than we do ourselves." Said Fred

"Of course you do." Said the clone

"You know I don't think I have known a stranger bunch of people than you four." Hagrid said.

"Thank you" all four students said simultaneously

the twins were first to make their way out of Hagrid's hut "Its almost time for lunch we should be going." Said George

"Yeah we have things to do and pranks to plan." Said Fred as they headed towards the castle Hermione followed while the clone waited a moment while the real Harry checked in for the second time.

The clone pulled out his wand and with flick of his wrist set off the trap Harry had the other shadow clones set. Two floating objects the twins didn't recognize came towards them. Being pure bloods Harry knew the twins would know a gun when they saw one much less a paintball gun. Hermione on the other hand recognized them right off and ran for cover as the twins continued to just stand there. A flurry of green and silver paintballs spattered all over the twins.

"Is that your doin Harry" Hagrid asked. The clone nodded in agreement "What are those things?"

"They are a muggle device called paintball guns. Muggles use them to shoot at each other for sport or entertainment." The clone explained as he now started to head to the castle approaching the twins and Hermione. "That's another point for me, and if you are trying to stop us Hermione you should be more a little more brave."

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione

"You saw the paintball guns and knew what they were which is why you ran and hid. But you could of knocked the twins out of the way or at least warned them to get out of the way. Stopping me from successfully pulling off the prank." The clone explained as he continued to head for the castle. The other three students left in the clones wake glared at Harry as he walked up the stairs.


	8. Chapter 8

In the weeks to come the twins adapted the paintball guns Harry left behind into shooting paintballs that contain stink bombs instead of paint and got the shadow clone when he was alone in the library. There was no denying the twins finally got a point on the board and because they recycled his prank he decided to recycle one of theirs.

During one of the evening feasts most of the Gryffindor house grew lions tails, paws, or head feathers. Some of the Ravenclaw's who got caught in the twins own version of the prank decided to tie some tails together for their own payback. The twins decided to get payback by setting an exploding slime trap in Harry's Quiditch locker but failed when Hermione got her point on the board by warning the real Harry about it just before practice.

Harry decided to get back at the twins by trapping them with biggest slime ball he knew Snape. During a detention session the twins had with Snape in the dungeon Harry used the Fidelius Charm on the door when the detention was over using one of the shadow clones as the secret keeper. Luckily for the Twins the charm only lasted for an hour because the shadow clone doesn't have a soul and ended exploding while it was still transformed as a bug so no one gave it any real notice.

The twins got back at Harry by casting a new charm they invented on the shadow clone. They called it the mime trap because it created glass wall in front a person while walking then disappears after they crash into it. It took three crashes for the shadow clone figured out what was going on.

The twins were approaching both the clone and Hermione, which they hadn't done since the prank war started, after their first class of the day. "We got our letter from Charlie" they both said simultaneously.

"You know even when you do that quietly other people can still hear you. Which kind of negates our whole trying to be secretive about trying to get a dragon out of the school." Hermione chimed in.

"Sorry" both twins stated simultaneously.

Hermione let out an aggravated grunt as the clone spoke up to get the conversation back on track. "Does that mean your brother Charlie and his friends are here now?"

"Yes" both twins said simultaneously

"Then maybe we should reestablish the truce until Norbert is gone. " The clone suggested

"Agreed I'd rather not worry about what you three are planning when we have to carry a dragon through the castle." Hermione pointed out.

Both twins shook their head reluctantly and said "Agreed"

"We should go tell Hagrid that it is time for Norbert to go." Hermione suggested still rather aggravated the twins hadn't stopped their synchronized chatter, the four students made their way to Hagrid's hut to break the news to Hagrid unaware of who was watching them.

The shadow clone walked up to the hut, knocked on the door, and said "Hagrid it's us we need to talk."

Hagrid opened the door forcing a bit of a smile on his face as he ushered the four students in closed the door behind them. "Let me guess you all are here to tell me its time to take Norbert." Hagrid said as his smile faded.

"Hagrid you knew this was going to happen?" Hermione said solemnly.

"He is going to live with other dragons." Fred said trying to reassure Hagrid.

"Charlie is going take god care of him." George said following his brothers lead.

"I know, I know Charlie will take good care of Norbert but I am his mother why can't I take care of him?" Hagrid said in defense.

"Hagrid we have been through this you cant hide a dragon here at Hogwarts he will eventually be found and then the ministry will take him." the clone explained.

"Where is Norbert by the way?" Hermione asked with a tone of concern.

"He's outside in the forest finishing his breakfast; besides who will find Norbert in the forbidden forest."

"For one all of the creatures that already live in the forest." Fred answered

"As well as anyone who even looks at the sky over the forest when he starts to fly." George added.

"Hagrid this is the best thing for you and Norbert, you must realize this." Hermione trying to reassure Hagrid

"But what if Norbert forgets all about me, I am his mother?" Hagrid asked

"Trust me no child forgets their parents." The clone said feeling he was finally putting the argument to a rest as the rest of the group quietly stared at him.

"Alright, I guess it would be best if Norbert lived with the other dragons." Hagrid said finally giving in.

"We will come for Norbert tonight when everyone is asleep." Fred said

"That will give you enough time to say your goodbye to Norbert." George said

"Well then I guess we will see you then Hagrid. We should be getting back to the castle, classes will be starting soon" Hermione said as she got up to leave to head back to the castle.

The twins and the clone realized Hermione was right and that they should hurry if they did not want to be late. All four students rushed out of Hagrid's hut waving goodbye to the gentle giant they did not notice Draco standing outside the hut near a window. Draco stood there and watched the four students head back to the castle as a wide smile grew across his face and said "Revenge is mine Potter."

…..

The rest of the day went by as normal with classes and feasts. When everyone went to bed for the night the real Harry left his room under the invisibility cloak and waited for Hermione to come out and join him.

When Hermione finally came out Harry pulled down the cloak just enough to see his head "Quick under the cloak; we'll meet George and Fred when we get to Hagrid's hut." Harry parted the cloak so that Hermione could see and get underneath the cloak with him. They made their way towards Hagrid's hut but before they made out of the castle they saw the twins running towards them with a worried look on their face.

Fred looked at George and said "Where are Harry and Hermione when you need them?"

The two Ravenclaw's let down the cloak so the twins could see them. "Were right here," they both said simultaneously. The twins shushed them and got under the cloak with them.

"Be very quite and still," George said

"Malfoy is leading Filtch right behind us." Fred said

Malfoy came around the same corner with Filtch not far behind. "Come on I saw them head this way they are probably meeting up with the other two. Hurry up or we'll lose them." Malfoy said as they both ran past where the four students were hiding.

"How did Malfoy know that we would be out late last night?" Hermione asked

"I guess he really knows how to hold a grudge." Said Harry

"Grudge what grudge?" Hermione asked

"I think I know what Harry's talking about." George said

"You're the one responsible for splattering Malfoy with porridge earlier in the year." Fred stated

"Wait a minute I was sitting with Harry when that happened and McGonagall said she saw Harry had been sitting well before Draco came in and that the owl wasn't Harry's so it could not have been him. Right Harry?" Hermione said as she turned to look at Harry

All three boys covered their faces with one hand each and shook back and forth in embarrassment completely in sync with each other. And keeping with that sync they all said " oh Hermione so naive."

"You know I am trying to determine who has been a bad influence on who; you three are starting to become triplets." Hermione said as she headed out of the castle to Hagrid's hut.

"What is she talking about?" asked George

"The three of us are nothing alike." Fred exclaimed.

"My point exactly, now we should follow before Filtch and Malfoy come back." Harry stated as he started to catch up to Hermione.

The three boys caught up to Hermione just as she knocked on the door. Hagrid opened the door just enough to let the four students slide in while he kept watch for Filtch. Hagrid looked at his four friends and asked, "Isn't that Filtch I see going up the northern stairs. Why is he roaming this side of the castle? He usually starts his rounds near the kitchen."

"Draco some how found us out and was going to try and bust us with Filtch." Harry explained.

"Draco? As in Draco Malfoy? I have never trusted the Malfoy's but why would their son be wanting to bust you all." Hagrid asked

"Actually he is just after Harry, us being Harry's friends only makes it that much more enjoyable for Draco." Hermione explained.

"Harry had an owl drop something in a bowl of porridge." Said George

"Draco was sitting in front of the bowl of porridge when it happened." Said Fred.

"So that was you as Draco claimed and no one believed him not even Professor Snape. How did you pull that one off Harry?" Hagrid said.

"A true prankster never reveals his secrets!" Harry said

"I thought that was magicians?" Hermione asked.

"What's a magician?" the twins asked simultaneously.

"They are people who use slight of hand, and illusion to perform m….. tricks." Hermione said hoping no one would guess what she is about to say.

Harry stared at Hermione knowing what she was about to say and decided to take advantage of this opportunity. "Yes they perform tricks to fool others, like pranks so magician is just another word for prankster."

The twins perked up and in unison asked "So where magicians too?"

"Exactly!" Harry said in exuberance.

"If you'll are done yappin Filtch just started heading for the south stairs now would be a good time to move." Hagrid said as he turned from the window and then to Norbert and did his best to hold back his tears. "Ok you be a good dragon and now that I will always be your mother." That is when Hagrid no longer hold back his tears and started bawling. Norbert just stared as he scarfed down what looked like the last of his dinner seemingly oblivious to what Hagrid said.

"It's going to be ok Hagrid he will be fine as will you." Hermione said trying to comfort her friend.

"We need to get moving before" said George.

"The whole plan goes up in smoke." Said Fred.

"Very bad joke guys." Said Harry as he gathered Norbert under the cloak with Hermione.

The four students proceeded as they had earlier planned with the twins keeping watch down the hallways while harry and Hermione hid under the cloak with Norbert. Surprisingly Filtch was not very good at tracking students through the school as everyone thought. They hadn't seen hide or hair of Filtch or Malfoy as they made their way to the astronomy tower. Charlie and his friends were already there waiting for them as they came up the stairs.

Charlie approached the twins and asked "Fred, George I thought you said you were going to bring Hagrid's dragon with you?"

"They did" Harry said as he pulled the invisibility cloak to reveal him, Hermione, and Norbert standing at the top of the stairs.

Charlie was only mildly surprised as a smirk appeared on his face. "Invisibility cloak nice. How did you get it?" Charlie said staring at his brothers.

"It is mine and it was a gift." Harry said "We've got Filtch and Malfoy searching this castle for us so we really need to make this quick."

"Luscious Malfoy is here searching the castle with Filtch?" Charlie asked being the most surprised yet.

"Draco Malfoy his son, and he has a bit of a grudge against Harry here." Hermione said a she and Harry started to pawn Norbert.

Charlie turned his attention away from his brother and at Harry head as if searching for something and then found it. "Harry as in Harry Potter, as in the boy who lived."

"Actually his new title is" George said

"The Great Troll Smasher." Fred finished.

"It seems we have a lot to catch up on, and I imagine the four of you need to get back to your dorms." Charlie said as he mounted his broom and took of with his friends and Norbert of course.

The four of students made their way down the stairs relieved to be rid of Norbert the dragon. But they were also completely unaware of two things Harry's cloak being left in the astronomy tower and Malfoy practically dragging Professor Flitwick and McGonagall with him.

Malfoy had an incredible grin on his face "See I told you students were out of bed."

"We believed you Mr. Malfoy, we just didn't know that there were others." Professor McGonagall said.

"Others professor?" Malfoy asked a little stunned.

"Yes, regardless of how noble you thought your actions were. You Mr. Malfoy are out of bed yourself." Professor McGonagall said.

"Don't the teachers realize that punishing a student for coming to them about naughty students will only discern other students from doing the same?" Asked Hermione

"Hermione why are you bringing logic into an world of magic?" Harry asked right back.

"Oh, my mistake." Hermione said as the foursome watched as professor Flitwick

Approached Harry and Hermione with a very unpleasant mood upon his face.

"No offense Minerva but I expected this from those two and certainly not from my students." As professor Flitwick practically barked at Harry and Hermione.

"None taken, I can't say I am surprised to see the Weasley twins here." Professor McGonagall said as she gave a very stern glare at the twins.

"What do you two have to say for yourself? As Ravenclaw's what were the two of you thinking?" Flitwick asked almost turning as red as a tomato.

Harry immediately came up with a response "That is kind of the problem we're only eleven not even teenagers still children and I am sure even in the magic world children our renown for not thinking." All four students grew a big smirk a cross their faces at Harry's response.

"It seems you can be very clever when it suits you Mr. Potter." Professor Flitwick said as he started to calm down from his earlier anger.

"And what excuse do you two have for being out after curfew?" professor McGonagall asked eyeing the Weasley twins and their confident smiles.

"Were teenagers and teenagers are" George said.

"Renown for getting into trouble." Fred finished.

"I am beginning to wonder who is a bad influence on whom." Professor McGonagall said eyeing all four students.

"What are you talking about Minerva it seems quite obvious to me." Professor Flitwick said.

"Yes it does doesn't, I believe minus fifty points and one weeks detention for all five of you should be a suitable punishment." Said professor McGonagall as professor Flitwick silently nodded


	9. Chapter 9

Harry did everything he could to keep from kicking himself for not having his clones keep an eye out for Malfoy, Filtch and any professors that happened to be walking the castle. But he still had them fetch his invisibility cloak before anyone else could find it.

The five students (well technically four students and a shadow clone) spent their detention with a neutral party Madame Pomfrey in the great hall except for their last night. Mr. Filtch led the students out of the castle towards Hagrid's hut where Hagrid was readying his crossbow while his dog Fang watched. "Shouldn't you be leadin them to detention and not the Forbidden Forrest Filtch?" asked Hagrid.

"Didn't Dumbledore tell you; they are spending detention with you tonight Hagrid." Filtch explained.

"I have an important mission in the Forbidden Forrest tonight!" Hagrid exclaimed.

"I know they're suppose to go with you." Filtch stated.

"What are you insane? That is the Forbidden Forest no way Professor Snape would…" Draco exclaimed in protest but was cut off by Filtch.

"It was decided by most of the professors to let the children see why they shouldn't be roaming the castle at night or go into the Forbidden Forrest." Putting to rest any argument on the matter. Filtch turned around and headed back to castle leaving the five students in Hagrid's care.

"Ok everyone stay close and don't worry we wont be straying to far from the castle." Hagrid said as he started handing lanterns to the shadow clone and Hermione. With that Hagrid, Fang, and the five students made their way off the castle grounds and into the Forbidden Forrest.

"You would think they would of" George started.

"At least let us bring our wands." Fred finished.

"Especially since were heading" Hermione began.

"Into the Forbidden Forrest." The shadow clone said cutting into Hermione sentence.

"HEY! That is our thing no copying." The twins exclaimed simultaneously

"All right everyone enough goofin off we should be keeping an eye out for anything unusual." Hagrid said trying to keep everyone focused on the task at hand.

"Define unusual Hagrid." the shadow clone

"Any thing out of ordinary." Hagrid defined.

"Hagrid everything in this forest is out of the ordinary." Hermione said.

"Especially each one of you lot." Malfoy said as he walked behind them doing his best to distant himself from the group.

"Malfoy you know the further away you are from us the easier you are to grab." Hermione pointed out to their only straggler.

"Why did you warn him?" The twins and the shadow clone asked simultaneously as Malfoy picked up his step to catch up.

As every one made their way through the forest looking for anything "unusual" for almost thirty minutes before they finally came across unbelievable sight. A pure white horse bleeding silver blood, and oh yeah it had a horn coming out of its head too.

"Is that really a unicorn?" asked Malfoy.

"No the horn is glued on and all horses bleed silver there is absolutely nothing remarkable about this horse, here's your sign." The shadow clone said as he channeled some of the comedic books he read.

"I think Harry needs new glasses" George started.

"Because there's no sign in his hand." Fred ended.

"Never mind" the shadow clone said.

"Ok every one if were quite done this is the reason why were here." Hagrid said as he pulled out his crossbow.

"What to see a dead horse." Malfoy said as he walked closer to the unicorn. Everyone, including Fang the dog, looked at Malfoy as if to say you cant be that stupid.

"Harry was only kidding, that is really a unicorn." Hermione chimed in to help push things along.

"That is correct this is a unicorn and that is unicorn blood which is different from that of normal horses incase you were wonderen." Hagrid said as he began to pull Malfoy away from the pool of blood he was getting to close to. "This unlucky fella was slain and somebody has been drinkin its blood."

"Why would someone want to drink the blood of a unicorn?" the shadow clone asked.

"Cause a unicorns blood has very powerful healing abilities, one sip would heal you from certain death. But the life you would live after such a barbarous act would be only a half life a cursed life."

"That doesn't sound like a very good reason to drink unicorns blood." Hermione said while pondering who would even dare attempt such a thing.

"Only the most fowl of creatures would dare even think of doing such a thing." Hagrid replied.

"So what are we doing out here with what ever this creature is shouldn't we be safe inside the castle?" Malfoy objected with the "slight" hint of fear in his voice.

"I think Malfoy is finally catching on" George is started.

"To the lesson of this detention." Fred ended.

"Alright now everyone well be splitin up into two groups Hermione and Malfoy with me stay close and keep an eye out for trouble. You three watch each others backs and call out if you find anything and try not to get into more trouble will ya." Said Hagrid as he handed a big stick to Fred.

"I don't know Hagrid that" George said.

"Is a hard thing to ask" Fred said.

"Especially for us three." The shadow clone ended.

The twins looked at Harry and then at each other and just shrugged, that is when Hermione decided to interject. "HEY, I thought the two of you said no copying."

"Harry wasn't copying" George said.

"He was joining in." Fred ended

"C'mon Hermione no falling behind." Hagrid said as he started to walk off trying to keep everyone focused. "Meet back here in fifteen minutes boys."

"OK, Hagrid" all three remaining students exclaimed simultaneously. The shadow clone set his lamp down and then put his leg up on a near by stone to pull his wand out of his ankle holster. The shadow clone swung his and chanted Lumos turned to the twins who seemed to be staring at the shadow clone in surprise.

"Like the two of you don't carry your wands where ever you go." The shadow clone said in defense. The twins looked at each other with a smile and reached behind their backs and pulled out their wands and casted Lumos as well.

Together the three of them walked in the opposite direction of the way Hagrid and the others went. The shadow clone had an idea pop in his head he wanted to discuss with the twins. "You know I think I may have found a way for us to end this war of ours."

"Oh really, and just what" George started.

"Did you have in mind?" Fred ended.

"We pull one more prank each before the end of school year but the target of our prank will be Draco Malfoy. Who ever prank's Malfoy the best wins." The shadow clone suggested.

"Agreed" the twins, said simultaneously and little bit to loud.

The twin's voices caught the attention of something in the forest in front of them. Something that moved like a shadow came towards the boys and a hand slowly appeared out of the deep black shroud reaching for the front-runner of the pack, the shadow clone.

The twins took charge of the situation and both fired the spell Reducto at the shrouded figure. The shrouded figure brought his other hand out holding a wand and deflected one of the spells cast it but wasn't quick enough to deflect the second scoring a direct hit. The shadow clone decided to use a spell of his own Incendio aiming at the cloak this seemingly dark figure. The cloak caught fire and what ever was beneath it fled into the night and disappeared when the flame when out.


	10. Chapter 10

_AN. Just wanted to say sorry about that last block of text and thank those who told me about it in reviews. the block has been fixed and hopefully it is easier for you to read and enjoy now. _

The next couple of weeks progressed as normally as they could at Hogwarts. Harry's shadow clone along with Hermione went to class and as far as they could tell so did Fred and George. That was until they noticed Draco seemed to be continually crashing head first into invisible walls. The next day Draco was seen running from two paintball guns firing crimson red and gold paintballs. A few days after that Draco was seen with scales for skin and silver hair. Once the scales and silver faded the next day Draco was seen with pink skin that sparkled in the sunlight and green gooey hair.

It had been a few days since any one had seen Draco in a week given his new paranoia of everything. One day the shadow clone and Hermione saw a rather peculiar sight (even taking into account recent events). Sitting out side they witnessed Draco Malfoy being chased out of a stairwell and down a corridor by what seemed like all of the seven year Slytherin girls all with wands drawn and yelling and screaming profanities that involved them catching Draco first.

Both the shadow clone and Hermione looked at each other very perplexed at the recent events. Then they saw Fred and George exiting out of the same stairwell they saw Draco and the rabble of girls chasing after them. The pair slowly walked in the same direction as Draco and the girls as if they didn't care about the chase but what happen after.

Both Hermione and the shadow clone rushed to the door the twins were heading for to ambush them for answers. Hermione immediately blurted out "What is going on?"

"We are just heading down" George started

"To the great hall of course" Fred ended

"So you are not following the group of girls chasing Malfoy down the same corridor you are heading to." The shadow clone asked rather sarcastically as if he did already know the real answer and the answer the twins would give.

"I am sorry but we know nothing" George started

"About the group of angry seventh" Fred mediated

"Year Slytherin girls chasing Malfoy" George ended

"Who said they were seventh year Slytherin girls. Harry only said they were a bunch of girls chasing Malfoy." Hermione butted in with her obvious accusation.

"Well we heard that a bunch of" Fred said as he started to save the situation.

"Seventh year Slytherin girls were" George continued

"Received some tainted treats from" Fred picked up

"None other than Draco Malfoy himself." George said finishing the save.

"So you just natural assumed what I was talking about knowing nothing about the spectacle me and Hermione just witnessed?" the shadow clone asked trying to give the twins an out without letting Hermione know what was really going on.

"Of course" the twins both exclaimed simultaneously as they tried to make a sly wink at the Shadow clone.

"Odds are Draco wants to make more trouble for us but he must have forgot his name was all over the sweets that were sent I imagine." Harry said trying even further to keep Hermione suspicions down.

"What makes you think Draco's name was all over the sweets." Hermione asked questioning the shadow clones answer.

"How else would all those girls" Fred started

"Know it was Draco without that?" George finished.

Hermione suspicious unconvinced glare bounced from the Shadow clone, to Fred, and finally to George. Although the she did not push the matter whether it was because she wanted to see what happened to Malfoy or she didn't want to continue the twins double talk any further she went down the corridor to the great hall.

"So I am guessing that is your big prank against Malfoy to go up against my yet to come prank against Malfoy." The shadow clone asked.

"Will you might as well forfeit" Fred stated

"Because there is no way you" George added in.

"Are going to top that prank" Fred ended. Both stood with a bog grin waiting for a response from the shadow clone.

" We shall see my friends, we shall see" the shadow clone said as he walked away towards the same corridor to see what was going to happen to Draco the twin followed for the same curiosity.

When all three boys started to approach the bottom of the stairs they saw Hermione standing and waiting right at the base of the stairwell.

The shadow clone walked right up behind Hermione just before she said to all of them "All of the Slytherin girls we saw earlier are there coming down the hall and I think they have Draco."

All four students stood and watched as the mob of Slytherin girls passed by and at the rear was Draco being dragged and stuffed with chocolates to keep his muffled pleas for help inaudible to anyone that could get close to him.

"Where are they going?" the shadow clone asked as he looked down the hall that lead to the dungeon where all of the Slytherin they just saw head down.

"My guess is that they are heading to their own dorm." Hermione answered

"Too bad we will never see what happens to him." the shadow clone said eyeing both of twins.

…

"Hermione what book are looking for I can more than likely tell you where it is." The shadow clone said as he followed Hermione in her search for some mysterious book she must have.

"You never know what you might find on a discovery of your own." She said as she slowly stopped and reached out for a book on the shelf. She read the title out loud "Muggle Clothing Torture. Why would any library have such a book?"

Hermione solely out of curiosity opened the and began to thumb through the pages "this book is solely about wedgey-ing people. Why would anyone want to read this." Hermione said as she hastily put the book back on the shelf were she found it.

The shadow clone reached right back up where Hermione had place the book and brought it back down. "Well Hermione you can never be to prepared to defend against such things." Or suggest some good ideas the Shadow clone thought to him trying to seem unsuspicious.

….

A few weeks later when Draco had started to be seen outside of the Slytherin dorm; the Shadow clone, Hermione and the twins watched as Draco lead Crab and Goyle to a tree trying to show them a book Draco was holding. Moments later another Draco came out side in the courtyard and approached the trio in a big huff.

"Just what do you idiots think you are doing. I have been waiting for you outside of dungeon for over an hour." The other Draco said standing waiting for them to reply without noticing the Draco that was already with Crab and Goyle.

Crab and Goyle turned out to face the other Draco and to show that they were with the real Draco.

"Who, who are you?" the other Draco stammered as he pointed at the real Draco.

"I am Draco, the one you are pretending to be. The real question is who you are?" the real Draco said.

"I am the real Draco, you are an imposter." The other Draco exclaimed as a crowd began together around the commotion cause by the two Draco's.

"Well then fake Draco I say there is one way to solve this, a wizards duel." Said the real Draco so everyone near by could hear him.

"Fine, but you will regret those words when I am through with you." said the other Draco, as he pulled out his wand ready to cast.

"At your ready." said the real Draco as he took his stance and raised his wand up waiting for the other Draco to do the same. When the two Draco's became mirrors image of each other they bowed, as is the formality of the duel. When they rose the other Draco slashed his wand furiously at the real Draco. But before the other Draco could utter one syllable of the spell he was going to caste the real Draco twitched his wrist and exclaimed "expelliarmus".

The other Draco's wand flew from his hands and into the heavy crowd gathered round. The other Draco watched his wand fly and disappear into the crowd then looked at the real Draco with a twist of fear on his face. The real Draco pointed his wand low and cast another spell "Wingardium Leviosa". The other Draco's feet flew out from under him and rose above him leaving the other Draco dangling upside down. For a few minute the real Draco continued to let the other Draco dangle as bobbed him up and down and forced in to a few columns and a tree until he finally let the other Draco drop.

The real Draco pulled a sharpie out of his and held out to Crab and Goyle and said "One of you write 'loser imposter' on his forehead first. The other wait and put him in a jocklock after." Crab grabbed the sharpie and sat on the other Draco as he wrote Loser Imposter on the other Draco's forehead. When Crab got up Goyle flipped the other Draco over on his belly and then put him in a jocklock and left him. The other Draco squirmed and tried to get out of the jocklock but was unable real Draco stood in the center a took a bow and with and then vanished with a poof a smoke leaving only one Draco squirming in the jocklock with loser imposter written on his fore head.

Draco screamed furiously at Crab and Goyle "Get me out of this right now you simpletons." Crab and Goyle released Draco from the jocklock as quickly as they could and helped him on his feet. "You will pay for this and when I find out who did this they will pay most of all." Is all Draco could muster to say as he fled Crab and Goyle following behind him. But neither of them could out run the massive laughter that followed from the courtyard. The crowd started to disperse tell only but Hermione, the shadow, and the twins remained standing in the courtyard. Hermione still had her hand over her mouth trying to hide her buckteeth as she was still laughing at the spectacle she just saw.

The twins turned to face the shadow clone and looked at him as if to ask if he was responsible for the recent events they witnessed. The shadow clone simply nodded at the twins to show agreement. Both twins bowed graciously to shadow clone to signify they had been beaten. While Hermione continued to laugh unknowing of what had happened right beside her. Hermione found a place to sit while her seemingly uncontrollable laughter continued while the three boys stood together.

"I am sure you figured out" Fred started

"How we got one over on Draco." George said

"But you must tell us who was" Fred continued

"The other Draco that helped you." George ended

"What makes you think I had help? Why couldn't I have done this all on my own." The shadow clone asked partly offended.

"Because Harry magic that allows" Fred started

"To be in two places at once is" George continued

"As rare as finding a dragons egg." Fred finished.

Recalling the past events that lead to this prank war finally the shadow clone was a bit confused." Wait you both are saying that finding a dragons egg is rare and you both are being truthful?" Now the twins shared the shadow clones confused look but not for the same reasons.

"Of course the are Harry" George said

"Dragons are rare creatures" Fred continued

"Even in the Magical world." George stated

"They are very protective of" Fred started

"Their young, our brother Charlie" George said

"Who takes care of dragons has" Fred continued

"Never even seen their nest." George ended.

The shadow clone's face turned from confusion to great worry and immediately started to leave the grounds were his friends were.

"Hey, where are you going?" the twins exclaimed simultaneously

With out even stooping the shadow clone shouted back "to see Hagrid."

The twins looked at each other and again simultaneously asked "why?"

The shadow clone stopped and turned to look at all of his companions that were now looking at him very confused. "Because if dragon eggs are as rare as you say there are than how did Hagrid come across Norbert in the first place?" The shadow clone asked trying to jog their memory of only two months ago. Then continued on his hasted path to Hagrid's hut. The twins and Hermione could only exchange shocked glances at each other before they started to run and catch up to the shadow clone.


End file.
